Re: Plant Markers

I have tried just about every marker made and they all have some good and some bad points
depending on the location of the beds and the climate etc.  I believe mine is one of the
worst climates for fading tags.  I got the Brother Label Maker and the labels faded after
just one summer of hot sun and one snowy winter.  Some labels I can read if I get just the
right light on it.  Some are impossible to read.  The tape does stay on the Eon labels but
we live on a creek and the raccoons come up through the garden and drag the labels out of
the ground.  I tried writing on the front and the back of the labels with a #2 Black
pencil and the side that was exposed to the light faded out.  I finally found a Paint Pen
and, at the suggestion of Bev Petrak, our club's President I purchased a large package of
heavy duty plastic (picnic) knives.  I wrote the name on both sides of the handle and both
sides of the blade.  I push the knife, blade side down, in the ground, right next to the
iris, up to the handle.  I also wrote the name on the front of the Eon label. and placed
it on the other side of the iris.  The portion of the knife that is underground is almost
indestructible and can be read very easily.  The top or handle remains clearly readable
but the sun here is very hot and the plastic becomes brittle.  The eon labels get dragged
around by raccoons and children walking over them, by my husband pulling the hose across
them and sometimes by someone picking them up to read them and putting them back in the
wrong place.  I hope my combination of markers will ensure that I always have a readable
label.  The iris in rows are recorded in my journal but sometimes an iris dies and the
neighbor encroaches on the site so it is still necessary to have good markers.  I like
them to be fairly unobtrusive but still readable.

Patti


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