I don't want my writing on the knives showing as they are only coded letters and numbers which only have meaning to me. I only need to see the writing when I am using any of those seedlings for crossing. I write down all the stats on the very first bloom after checking the knife for it's ID. If I decide that some of them are worth naming and registering down the road, then those will probably be moved to a different bed after a couple years of growth. Eventually I will get a nice metal marker for those that I register. I only own a few (very few) named and registered daylilies currently. (None of those are any that I have registered.) I have over 300 daylilies that are seedlings, so that would be a lot of writing showing that I really don't want to see every time I look at my garden beds. I, personally, prefer NOT to see the labels. To my eyes, it detracts from my garden areas to see letters/numbers written all over the place. My yard is not a garden tour yard, just my own personal garden space, so I really don't have a need to see plant labels every time I am enjoying my garden. My favorite plants are some I already know where they are located because I use them often as parents for hybridizing with other favorites.
I understand that some people like to see plant markers. I am just not one of those people. It's just a personal preference. I realize some gardeners DO like to see plant markers and that is why those lovely metal markers with nice labels are so popular. But I agree that it is not something you would want to spend the dollars on for just growing out seedlings.
