This is the first year that i have lost some of my plant labels. The deer and weather have had a field day! I do map all my plants each fall, so it should not be hard to find the correct names.

However, I have heard that some people bury a label under the plant as a backup method if you ever loose the name.

Does anyone do this?

What do you use?

My idea was plastic ribbon and marker...not sure if the marker will last.

I've done this with the tags or ribbon the plants were mailed with. I tie them around a root or 2 before I plant. I've dug them up to move or divide them a year or more later and was able to still read them.

Joy

I bury the marker that came with the plant. Have not had a problem reading them, but mine only stay there for one year.

Annette M. just gave me a P-Touch for Christmas.I am organizing to change out all my tags now. I ordered the tape that is for outdoors. I received it in less than a week from Brother. I am painting the old ones with primer and white paint. I already have one printed out for Lillian's Thin Ice Fred...Am I excited?
Can't wait to get them all done and see how much nicer the gardens will look with printed labels.

I buy the TZ tape for my Brother from Image Supply. It is the cheapest I have found. And if you buy over $75 worth, shipping is free.

I sure would like to convert over to the engraved labels that I saw in AHS's journal but boy are they expensive. Anyone here have those and how long do they last??

Thanks! I am going to look into the label maker as well as bury pastic tape labels.

I use the hard plastic with the rough grain, works much better than the metal ones, which the same marker I use on the plastic fades on the metal. The metal look so much nicer but no good if you can't read them. Engraved would be the way to go for metal.

I would imagine the engraved marker will last as long as you have that cultivar. But the expense!
This would be a good match for my daughter, imagine an engraver for a sun-in-law. LOL!

I've had the AAA labels in the past. Started out with smooth and square corners. They faded after a few years (still looked OK, just not new). Then went to rough with rounded corners- these I LOVE. BUT the expense is too great when you grow 2000 varieties, so now I make my own with the P-Touch. Oh, and the plastic ones break in a western Kansas hail storm.

Thanks for your input Robin. I thought they were quite expensive too even though I would only need about 250.

I just started using the Kincaid metal plant markers instead of the Eon brand that I had before. They are much heavier, no bending of the legs going into our hard clay, and supposed to last for many years. I use clear Avery envelope labels printed on a laser printer, a suggestion from a hybridizer who's used them for years. So far (oldest are only 1 year old) everything works great, no fading, no losses.

I started using mini blind pieces and a paint pen. I use some metal markers also, but I have too many plants and it gets expensive. I like the paint pen though, no fading problems.

Pastime I am going to buy some irrigation staples, plastic ribbon and a paint pen as markers, I got the idea from looking at other peoples markers but I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

I first saw the staples when we had our sprinkler system installed, they used U shaped metal staples about 6" long to keep the plastic hoses down in the flower beds.

Now you just gave me a better idea, to use a mini blind instead of the tape and have DH drill holes so that the staple can go through it.

Margaret

If you can find the aluminum mini blinds they hold up much longer. I have some out in my garden that must have been there 5 years or better and they are still in good shape.The vinyl ones become brittle after a year or so out in the elements, so need to be replaced often.

That's what I had in mind, a couple of holes drilled through it to fit the size of the staple and I think they will last a very long time and with the staple into the ground they won't blow away.

Sounds like a good idea.

I have quite a few of the AAA markers and they are expensive, plus the little tabs have been broken off on several of them, making them practically useless. Now I have switched to the Paw-Paw Everlast metal marker, printing my own labels and protecting them with clear sealer. Just started doing this so can't comment on the longevity yet.

I have begun burying labels with my plants as well. Cats and squirrels, deer and other creatures (insert DH here) have a way of pulling them out and scattering them about or stepping on them and breaking the plastic markers from Lowe's or HD, so that's money wasted. I do use the white plastic markers for plants I'm donating to sales or giving away.