Rob, this year I got smarter... I took a far away picture of where the iris is planted and then a picture of the no id iris. That way I can remember where they were planted in the yard (won't help if you moved them though).
Here is a picture of the tags I make. They are fired ceramic tags. I pour the molds, hand-write the names on the tags with a liner paint brush, then fired them, then I apply a glaze and fire them again. Takes a while, but its permanent. I'm sure Jan could make really beautiful tags but these work for me. The wires are clothsline wire.
on the Coal Seams tag I also wrote where I got the iris from and the year I bought it.
I have question, when you soak the iris (dried roots) are you only soaking the root area and not the rhizome?
