I've taken to using multiple labels in many of my pots. One, of course, is the name, but I often have a second label, too. Since many of my plants (Lilium and not Lilium) naturally or unnaturally go dormant in summer or before the fall season, I find it advantageous to record what actually peaked out of the soil that year or previous years. And here I can also easily mark if the pot needs to be transplanted.
When winter approaches and I put my pots to bed, I need to know which to keep or toss. I need to know if it is time to toss an empty pot, or to keep a pot that "looks" empty. This is especially useful for hypogeal germinating lilies (like martagons) that only put up one small leaf the first season above ground. They certainly aren't very impressive, and completely disappear, sometimes in just a month's time, and by the fall season, leave me wondering if something was ever actually growing in that pot. That second label is an easy solution to the dilemma. This pic is pretty normal in 3.5x5 inch pots: when the little leaves wither, one would never know something living lurks below.
So this tangential info has come about from Della's comment:
--
Those martagon seedlings are works of art in their little pots
I never mean to keep marts in pots 'til flowering. Sometimes it just happens unexpectedly, or in these cases, they were marked for transplanting, but got missed. They offer great photo opportunities, though, as I can always pick their best side, and background issues are minimal since I use my neighbor's expanse of green lawn - something I don't have in my yard.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Another mart seedling I almost missed, hiding amongst other perennials. (Sometimes they get planted wherever I can find room.) The flower is already two or three days old in this heat.
And for you, Della: one for you to improve upon in your photography....
edited for grammar
