Flowerpots with textual names that might change during play.

Inform can also understand text properties:

"Terracottissima Maxima"
A flowerpot is a kind of thing. A flowerpot has a text called pattern. Understand the pattern property as describing a flowerpot. The printed name of a flowerpot is usually "[pattern] flowerpot". The printed plural name of a flowerpot is usually "[pattern] flowerpots".
The Herb Garden is a room. In the Herb Garden is a flowerpot with pattern "blue willow". In the Herb Garden is a flowerpot with pattern "striped". In the Herb Garden is a flowerpot with pattern "striped".
Test me with "x blue willow / get striped / look".
Test me with "x blue willow / get striped / look".
Herb Garden
You can see a blue willow flowerpot and two striped flowerpots here.

>(Testing.)

>[1] x blue willow
You see nothing special about the blue willow flowerpot.

>[2] get striped
Taken.

>[3] look
Herb Garden
You can see a blue willow flowerpot and a striped flowerpot here.

This may not seem very much different from having the pattern be a kind of value -- except that texts can, of course, hold almost anything. Further exploration of these possibilities may be found in the chapter on Advanced Text.