For my seedlings I am going with simplicity - I give each cross a letter name, along with a year the seed was acquired. Then a number as to which seedling it is in the cross. Dips also have an * after them. So in my records Unbridled Spirit X Blackberry Dragon is C. The seedlings are now numbered 11C-1, 11C-2 and 11C-3.
Snake in the Grass X Candy Cane Dreams seedlings are 11A-1*, 11A-2*, and 11A-3*
I keep a spreadsheet with all the cross info.
For my NOIDS that are heirloom daylilies brought back from the family cottage (part of our family cottage property used to be a daylily farm back in the 1960's - no ID's and everything has been self hybridizing and growing "wild" since then) I designated them similarly- the ones brought back in 2008 are Cottage 8A*, Cottage 8B*. The ones brought back in 2010, are similarly designated as Cottage 10A*, Cottage 10B* (they are all dips)
I know others have different ways of identifying things.
Initially I was trying to document everything, and in peak blooming season it just got to be too much for me. For 2012, now I have a basic sheet with my beds identified and the flowers numbered on the front. On the back, the names of the plants. Each day, I can just go out and document (highlight) which ones are blooming, and if I decide to take measurements I can write them down. Although I have every flower identified with some type of tag, I am still experimenting with the tags - so I have master sheets drawn up. and each spot in the bed is numbered
My beds at this point are simply identified - "Eagle bed" (there is a steel eagle sculpture in that bed). The seedling bed (of which there is 1 raised bed right now) is 2011 with magic marker on the side. Circle bed, volleyball bed (built around an old cemented volleyball post), etc
Even though I keep my data on a spreadsheet, I also have a flower program - www.plantstep.com which is a really nice program - and each time I use it, I figure out more stuff with it.
Realize that my systems may change in the future, this is just what I have started with. I like the word "flexibility" in my vocabulary, and as I figure out what works, and doesn't work for me, I change things ~Jan
