Yep--they're prone to failure from the elements and experienced recommendations are so valuable here. Label techniques and materials used vary amongst users. I'll show you what I use but this is an area where you can pick and choose a method that suits you. You don't have to do as I do, but this does work very well.
Paint Pen: UNI PAINT oil base paint marker, made by Mitsubishi Pencil for Stanford Corp. Oak Brook, IL. You can find these on EBay. I've had used labels hanging on a garden post for three years now with no loss of adhesion or fading. Just make sure the surface your writing on is good and clean.
For label stock I use cut pieces of plastic mini blinds from left over odds and ends from when I cut my garden markers. I punch a hole on one end and use a Twist-em from bread bags that I accumulate to fasten to pedicel. Never use rubber bands as they disintegrate in the sun and fall off. And the mini blind stock I got from somebody who was throwing them out, but you can also get odds and ends from big box stores most times for free making this portion a low cost operation.
Other Materials: #1 (28#) Kraft Paper coin envelopes for seed or pollen. Quality Park Products, stock # 50162. These you can find on EBay pretty reasonable. Small plastic bags of about same size can also be found on EBay.
Now, these are the things I use. Others on here use different materials, like plastic label tape they print to and so on. Let's see what others have to say--and then you can pick and choose. They all work. The pen is the fussy part.
