Most of you know I'm new to this, and I suddenly have over 100 different daylilies. I have 23 blooming today, and I'm finding that a lot of my pictures don't match with those in the database. My labels must be wrong, though I thought I was being very careful. This could be wrong ones sent by vendors, but it could also be that I screwed up somehow. Most of you seem to know your dayliliy names by sight, but I sure don't! Suggestions, gang? How do you keep all of your daylilies labeled??

1. Immediately take photos of all the plants laid out so the plant and the labels are clearly visible. This has helped me on more than one occasion when I got a little confused or the little plastic bans with the names slipped off. That will also help to confirm you got the correct number of plants.
2. I like to use separate containers if I am working with more than just a few plants. I like to keep the number down around four. I will put those four plants in a container to soak, then later take them down to the garden (helps a lot to have the holes pre dug and the name plates already in position) and plant those. Then come back for the next batch.

Good ideas, Larry, but too late now to do that! My 100+ are planted, and some are blooming....

Barbalee, I see you threw yourself into the deep end...

I would say that it can be a challenge when working with so many. However, if you've kept record of what and who you received CVs from and with photo's of the daylily's you can usually narrow it down. As for labeling below is a link about a company that makes the metal label that a few use.

The thread "Paw Paw Everlast Label Company" in Daylilies forum

As for how I keep track, I will pre-make all of the metal plant markers w/labels when I am planting. I then only remove the identification strip that come with the fans, just before it goes into the hole dug. I will also put this marker in the hole, within the top layer of the soil when covering the roots. I then position my metal marker in the bed. Again, doing this one at a time.

I hope this helps.

I always try to make the label before I plant. Then after planting, the label can go in the ground right next to it.

If I am planting more than a couple, I keep a piece of paper with me to write down the location of the daylily in my garden. Then go back to the computer to mark it on my map. Here is one section of my garden where I have the daylilies circled in red. It is something that absolutely must be done after planting or I will forget to update the map! I also have a legend with all the names of the daylilies and their location. May be overkill, but I am always afraid my plant stakes are going to get ruined or taken.

Like Stan said, I also leave the label on the daylily until just before putting in the ground

Nice diagram Vickie!

I also create an excel spreadsheet with name etc and added a picture of the actual CV. Below is an example,

All great ideas...thanks! I haven't made a map, and I think it's time to do that. I also think I need to do the metal labels as I think my lawnmower guy broke some of my plastic labels and maybe moved others. Some are just going to have to stay as NOIDs for a while. First blooms (which is what I'm getting) aren't always accurate anyway, so next year I should be able to identify at least most of them as I have kept good records of what I purchased from each vendor and what bed they are in as well as the ones I got for postage.

!!

Barbalee - Here is the cheap and quick way that I make garden labels and they have held up quite well for me for at least 2+ years. I also put a blue paint dot (for dips) and a green paint dot (for tets) on the handle of each knife that is sticking up out of the ground so that I know if a cultivar is a dip or tet when hybridizing. These markers aren't that visible either, so you mainly just see the plants.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/b...

My plants are all inventoried here on garden.org plant list. I'm slowly filling in the comment section for each one - I'll keep track of things like
Whom bought from and date purchased I used to maintain Excel spreadsheet, but there's so much more info / links here at garden.org that can be accessed via plant list function.

As for labeling, hubby recently bought me a Brother P-Touch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OCEKCDA/

In the past, I've used old vinyl blinds - marked with pencil. I found pencil lasts longer than a sharpie. Works pretty well.

I'm going to order stainless steel stakes from:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OCEKCDA/

Lynn and Richard of Wisconsin Garden Video Blog did a great video on Kincaid labels:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OCEKCDA/

I use the plants list here too and attempt to keep it updated to my liking.

@Dave, thanks for the new emoticon

Methods of organization are an individual thing. The first thing I had to accept is that memory is fallible. After that, chaos is greatly reduced.

When I receive a box of plants, they generally go into water for at least a few hours, sometimes with a bit of liquid fertilizer, and I make out vinyl labels to match each plant. I write the plant name twice on each label, using #2 pencil above ground and Sharpie indelible marker below, along with the name of the vendor. I toss the labels in the water jug with the plants. It's essential to keep track of plant orders, so that if I or the vendor have mislabeled anything, I have a list of likely suspects to work with.

I buy vinyl labels from Horticultural Marketing and Printing in TX. I get at least 10 years out of them, unlike plastic labels, which usually dry and break inside of a year. Vinyl venetian blind slats are OK too, but are thinner, more easily damaged, and tend to stain, becoming hard to read.

dc0145a said:My plants are all inventoried here on garden.org plant list. I'm slowly filling in the comment section for each one - I'll keep track of things like
Whom bought from and date purchased I used to maintain Excel spreadsheet, but there's so much more info / links here at garden.org that can be accessed via plant list function.

As for labeling, hubby recently bought me a Brother P-Touch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OCEKCDA/

In the past, I've used old vinyl blinds - marked with pencil. I found pencil lasts longer than a sharpie. Works pretty well.

I'm going to order stainless steel stakes from:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OCEKCDA/

Lynn and Richard of Wisconsin Garden Video Blog did a great video on Kincaid labels:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OCEKCDA/

If you use pencil on a plastic marker, it is a good idea to write the name on the bottom of the plant stake (the end that goes into the ground), as well as on the portion that is above ground. The writing stays visible a very long time when it is buried. I generally put two markers behind each plant, about 1/2" apart. That way if one gets broken or lost, I still have the other. I have also buried the strips that came on the fans from the vendor in the ground beside the plant.

Barbalee:

When I first started collecting Daylilies I used the markers (most were made from blinds) that came with the cultivar. But then the addiction began and needed a better way to keep up with the Daylilies. When I buy a cultivar now I go to the AHS or NGA websites to get the registration Information and picture. All the information is added to an Excel spreadsheet and to notes on my iPad, then I use Kincards garden stakes and make the name tag including the hybridizer and year of registration. After planting record the location in the spreadsheet mentioned above. This works pretty well for me. I also add a column for each year to record the date the cultivar first bloomed that year or if it was new to the garden. Have been doing this since 2010. I keep the printout of the registration information in a binder. The reason the info is kept on my iPad Is so when shopping for more cultivars can look at what I already have. Have purchased some duplicates.:whistling:

You ALL are amazing! I love the ideas and advice. Both double-marking and above/below ground are both great ideas. I already keep a spreadsheet with pictureres from the database...that's what clued me in that my markers aren't right. My original markers are on knives (thanks, Becky!) I think I'm going to go Kincaid as well as knife marking front and back and mapping...and basically start all over again. By next year, I bet I can have a lot fewer NOIDs!!

Like others, I make my tags once I order the plants. I tag them as I take them out of the box; this lets me do a quick inventory in case something is missing (it also lets me see if a vendor has been generous to send a bonus!). In addition, when making tags, I do one color for dips and one for tets. This is a visual way to learn the ploidy of so many new plants at once if you are planning to do some crosses (like many, I order en masse because I have an addiction ) I use a paint pen to write the cultivar name & daylily vendor on my tags, and I haven't had any fade or wear off after two years. I get the paint pens from Walmart in the craft section.

One of the most important steps is to make a map. It doesn't have to be fancy, just whatever works for you. Make sure to update it as you add new plants or remove existing ones Here's a work in progress of one of my older beds that I am currently reworking:



And I didn't have time to draw anything when I made a map of my sidewalk daylilies, so I just listed the names like this:



I do my sketches in pencil and keep them in a protective sleeve in my daylily binder (which my family gives me much grief about since they're not 'flower' people, but I'm super organized about most things ).

If anyone uses a computer program for making maps of beds, I would love to know more!!

Great topic, Barbalee!

Looks awesome, Regina. I've got to make a map, and I'm absolutely no artist. I'm not sure how to do that with my limited skills. You're waaaay ahead of me, Regina!

Barbalee, I agree with everyone on their careful methods, and now it's time for the quintessential OCD procrastinator to give her two cents worth...(it's like peeling back an onion with me)

I do keep a list on a spreadsheet, very much like everyone else, and I do have my list here, on this site, that I can print any time into an e-file, along with a hard copy, which is convenient bc of the photos. At first, I used the plastic markers, but I eventually realized that a more durable label would need to be used, as my list of daylilies grew.

Now, I'm not gonna lie, I don't always have the permanent tags at the ready, when I plant my new daylilies, so I make absolutely sure that the vendor's tag stays on every daylily until it literally goes in the ground, and, if a metal tag isn't ready, I then use a landscape "staple" to secure the vendor's tag to the ground, by the plant, until the permanent tag can go in. I just thread it through the hole of the vendor tag. Most of the vendor tags are sturdy enough to withstand critter abuse and the weather for quite a while, actually, and the staples are long enough to stay in the ground for the duration, avoiding displacement by weather and critters.

I prefer to use the metal labels for permanent ID bc it's a logical choice for my no-nonsense, do-it-right-the-first-time M.O. They're not so easy for the critters to dig up, well, at least not critters that are the size of a cat and smaller! If a daylily is going to move to a different location, I have a roll of that stretchy, plastic neon stuff to mark and wrap on the roots until it reaches its new home in the ground. I also use that tape for labelling my trades.

I know that this "armchair quarterback" answer doesn't solve your issue, so really, if you have a list of everything, perhaps using three sources for photos of each daylily, including the American Hemorocallis Society, due to variations in color on devices, etc., might help in combination with help from the experts on this sight....good luck, my friend

Thank you, Dana. I think I'm going to need all the help I can get!! Where did you get the "stretchy, plastic neon stuff"? I think I could sure use some of that!!

I believe that stretchy, plastic,neon stuff is called flagging tape. I found some at Menards for just a couple of dollars. It was with the caution tapes.
https://www.menards.com/main/t...