I also use metal markers and Brothers tape. When it happens that I lose a cultivar, I toss the plate -- the holders are still fine. And the plates are relatively inexpensive to replace.
That being said -- this year I have adopted a new strategy. Rather than use a metal marker for new plants -- I use a Brothers tape label with the name only on a plant marker cut from an old venetian blind slat. This is much faster to make because I eliminate a bunch of information that I put on the permanent marker -- and if a plant doesn't make it, there is only a little time lost and very little expense lost.
