Re: Plant labels
iris@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Plant labels
  • From: P* <p*@bellsouth.net>
  • Date: Wed, 29 May 2013 13:47:16 -0400
Welcome Holly,
Dana, great idea on the landscape timber. thanks. One would need to be very systematic though if they planted in bed fashion.
One of the specialized tape type laser printers is very handy, ex Brother P-touch. Winterberry (iris) Gardens reports good success with using the extra-heavy duty grade label tape. They say the printed tape last for many years. I'm testing them out. I think the cost of the tape is outrageous. Same ploy as cartridge-jet printers. But you can get so much information neatly put on printed labels. They stick theirs on the zinc plate type markers.
No kids ever visit my garden and labels get moved. We are guilty of doing things like moving plants/labels out of synch, etc. etc.. We swear we don't but we do. And there are other gremlins too. One wrong label can make a hybridizer's program - well - unscientific.) Me wonders how many babies are accredited to a mislabeled or uncertain parent. Zurbrigg did it. Dykes did it. Cayeux did it. ad nauseum Amen 100x to maps.
You can buy precut wooden stakes - say from a surveying supplies store. Driven stakes are much less subject to being moved about by garden gremlins. I'm seriously thinking of converting to wooden stakes to some extent.
Anybody who grows a few plants needs the stick in the dirt type pot and nursery labels. Writing on curved blind frustrate me. You can various sorts on say Ebay. Buy in 50's, 100's. They are CHEAP in comparison to their utility. In addition to an outside the clump label AND map, you can stick them inside the clump. They are convenient and cheap remember, stick 3. When you divide the clump you have temp labels all handy dandy. If you divide the clump and find mismatch outside and inside - gremlins. At least you now know you might have a noid. If possible buy ones with holes in them. Very handy if you want to make a hanger, etc. I've seen rectangular with hole on each end which would work well with Dana's approach. Get UV treated styrene. You can stick printed labels on them or just use pencil - I have UV treated pencil labels that in the field that are 6 yrs old still in good shape and very readable. If you want to remove the pencil, forget the eraser, use some fine grit dirt, spit on it and rub it off. Works great. 

Shaub
SW NC Z6b

On 5/28/2013 8:08 PM, Holly Canfield wrote:

Hello all!

I'm new to the list.  I'm beginning to buy different iris cultivars and
want to make sure I keep them straight once planted.  I'm toying with the
idea of playing with hybridizing in the future, so keeping my iris labeled
is important.

My question tonight is what labels and pens are everyone using to label
their plants in the field?

Thanks in advance!

Holly C
West Virginia

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