I heard that if you put the label in writing side down, the dirt protects it from the sun. So that's what I'm trying this year.

Someone on another forum suggested using printed labels from a p-Touch label writer. I have one, but no tape at the moment, otherwise, I'd be trying this too.

Get a garden marker--it is a permanent marker that does not fade in the sun. I have some plastic markers in my garden (and rocks) that are going on 3 years with no fading of the writing.

I use markers made from cut up slats of old vinyl blinds. Using an ordinary ball point pen, I press hard when I write, so that the words are actually etched into the vinyl.

This might not be the solution for the over 50 crowd or those who want to be able to read their label at a glance, but I've been pleased at long lived frugality of this method.

I haven't had a problem with my black sharpie writing on duct tape. I've had winter sown containers outside since January and the writing is still as dark as the first day.

Laundry marker pencils(aka grease pencils) or plain old #2 pencils make the longest lasting temporary marks on plastic. You can make extremely attractive permanent markers by cutting strips of copper flashing and using a "dead" ball point pen. Resting the strips on a foam board(like the kind they sell in craft shops) gives really good results.

A few years ago I cut up a bleach bottle into label-sized strips and used a Black Sharpie. The plastic is much more UV-resistant than commercial plant stakes, which seem to hold pencil best,as Nigella said.

The even-cheaper version of Nigella's recommendation for permanent tags is to cut strips from soda cans and "write" on the backsides of them. A cheap single-hole paper punch will make a hole so they can be tied onto a branch or a tomato cage.
Also, the opaque plastic as found in cat litter jugs is sturdier than milk jugs, and seems quite resistant to UV degradation. Alas, it doesn't take pencil well!

I use cut up mini-blinds and just a regular Sharpie...no problems so far and they are pretty sturdy too.

I use labels made from milk jugs written with a black Sharpie. Blue, red, and green Sharpie ink is not as long lasting. Also, I bury the tags next to the plant to protect them from the sun.

Chervil2

I've gotten both grease pencils and permanent markers at the dollar store. Just keep in mind, different marker recipes will do different things in the sun.

I stay with the #2 Pencils. Haven't had one fade yet.
Darren

For a long time, I used large tongue depressors for my labels. A box of 500 cost about $6. They are easy to write on and are readable for the season.

Then one day while driving home, I found a box that fell off of someone's truck, which had about 500 paint stirring sticks inside it, those make great markers too.

I've discovered a great free material for waterproof labels.

You know how people are always putting up illegal signs on the right-of-way? Well, in our neighborhood we've started pulling them up and throwing them away, and I've accumulated quite a few of them in my basement. So the night before our last plant trade, I was frantically looking for something to make labels with, and I noticed these plastic, definitely waterproof, signs. A lot of them are hand-written, so I figured I could cut them up and write my label information on the back side where nothing had already been written. Well, it worked like a charm! I used a magic marker and they dried immediately and were smear-proof once dry. The material is double-walled so small pieces of it are stiff enough to poke down into the pot.

These things are plentiful. Some nights I pull up 10 or more. It's against the law for people to put them in the right of way, so it would be difficult for someone to complain that it disappeared. (Sort of like a drug dealer complaining that someone stole his drugs, I imagine). One small sign easily yielded 20 or more large plant tags.

I borrowed another idea for plant labels, that are more attractive, from an exhibitor at the Southeastern Flower Show a few months ago. She had made plant labels out of split saplings, writing the plant name on the inside, cut surface, and leaving the bark on the other side for appearance's sake. They looked very nice, but I'm not that good with a knife, so I copied the same idea but instead used split-apart pieces of bamboo that were no longer usable for trellis. The inside surface took the ink from a waterproof marker well, and they seem to be holding up fine outdoors. They blend in and look much more natural than plastic.

I've never heard of people putting up signs like that. The only signs I've seen are for lost animals or garage sales, and they're usually on cardboard or paperboard.

What are they advertising?

The messages vary. I live in an old neighborhood that is in the beginning stages of gentrification, so a lot of the signs are from people seeking investors in real estate. Those usually read something like: Investor Special, House appraised at $200,000 for sale for $120,000; or House Bird Dog Wanted, Will Pay for information about investment opportunities; or We Buy Ugly Houses; or Stop Foreclosure, We Will Buy Your House As Is. My neighbors and I find these signs very offensive; we don't equate old houses with ugly houses, and usually the people who post those kind of signs are looking for unsuspecting victims to rip off. Plus it trashes up our neighborhood to have them on every right of way, stapled to every light pole, etc. I carry a big heavy stick with me whenever I walk my dog, and when I see these signs on light poles I knock them down with my stick.

This seems to be a big advertising trend, at least here in Atlanta. I once followed a pickup truck around my neighborhood, knocking the signs down as fast as they tacked them up. Got into a "discussion" with the person posting them, who told me he was just being paid to keep plenty of the signs up on certain streets, and it didn't matter how many I knocked down - he'd just be paid more to put more back up. I called the phone number on the signs he was posting, and said I wanted to sell them my house, where could we meet and what was their business name? They wouldn't give me a name, so I told them if they put one more sign on the corner in front of my house I was calling the police, and I told them what corner it was. Oddly, not a single sign has gone up there since. Maybe one company is responsible for posting everyone's signs? Who knows.

Some of the signs are advertising things for sale. On one particular busy corner near my house, I removed the same sign several times a week for several months before the poster finally gave up. It was advertising cars and trucks for sale for $2,500 by calling a particular phone number. Who knows what kind of scam that one was. But whoever was doing it spent a lot of money on the signs. They were large, and attached to a very sturdy metal prong structure to be pushed into the ground. It was after I got a few of these that I started keeping them in the basement rather than throwing them away, because I thought we might actually want to re-face the signs someday and use those really strong bases for our own purpose - to announce neighborhood meetings, for instance. It has also occurred to me that someday I might figure out a garden use for these metal supports. They're too short for trellises, but some of the thinner, more flexible kinds of metal sign supports (These are shaped like an upside-down U, and slide down through the channels in the double-sided sign material, with the ends then poked into the ground) are useful for pinning down tomato cages.

I think you could probably buy the signs blank, if you don't have this kind of pollution in your neighborhood (lucky you, if so!!). Lots of times the signs will actually be advertising signs! and it's usually about 100 signs for $99, so I figure you can get them somewhere for about a dollar apiece. Maybe a printing shop? Kinko's copy center? But why spend money for them when they're available at every interstate exit ramp, and you'd be performing a public service by cleaning a few of them up?

ohhhhh very interesting.

Now that you mention it, I've seen a few of those kinds of signs on corners that have empty lots. "Make hundreds of $ per day!" "We buy old cars!" They don't appear to be as strong as the ones you're finding.

But I've never seen them on people's front yards!

Maybe your state attorney general's office would be interested in this. They'd have more resources for figuring out who it is. I once reported a bad online gardening vendor to their state's attorney general office, and they got involved and got me my money back!!

Thanks for all of the responses. I'm now using a bunch of old wooden clothespins split into two parts. I'm writing on them with a black sharpie.

Meanwhile I've been trying to undo the damage from all of the labels that faded into nothing. I have a bunch of seedlings labelled "mystery" because I have no idea what they are.

--Valerie

In Florida, milk jug labels *crumble(!)* after a year. No kidding! I did all the cutting, labeling and attaching to my roses. Next year, putting in the amendments, adding mulch, go to move the milk-jug label out of the way and it falls in two in my hand!

OOOOH! Over on the Garden Junk forum people posted some VERY clever markers they've made. My personal favorite was made with those cute letter beads arranged to form the name but there were several others that were both attractive and functional.

I use plastic picnik knives for plant markers and a paint pen from the craft store. The serated edge on the knife makes it easier to press into soil.

Sharpies definitely don't hold up here in VA, even on the white plastic from cat litter or bleach jugs. The people who are praising them are also saying that they bury the tag, or turn it to face the ground.
Grease pencil is most long-lasting, as long as you use black - blue (therefore green as well) and red are VERY fade-prone. It's true that the bleach-jug plastic is itself less degraded by sunlight than the milk jugs.

try this link www.dpind.com
all kinds of labels
great garden marking pen, best i've ever used

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.dpind.com

I use eggs cartons. Cut into strips, mark with pen. Even if the ink fades it is indented into the strip!

Now if I could just keep the chipmunks from stealing them! lol
This year, I will place small plant pots or small rocks over/around them.

I use plastic knives, with a sharpie...so far, so good!!

I'm winter sowing this year and have found that Sharpies fade over time due to sun exposure, but Marks-A-Lot is still nice and dark.

Humph. I just went out yesterday to look at my tags made from milk jugs and kitty litter jugs and Sharpies. They are indeed fading.

Humph.

The ones made of popsicle sticks and ball-point pen seem to have weathered just fine, though.

How about these...?

Here is a link that might be useful: Listo Pencils

Many of my master gardner friends and I use old vinyl mini-blinds. They cut easily, pointed on one end and I round the corners slightly on the top (they can be sharp). Make as long or short as you like. With Sharpie, write name on top and I always write it on the part I slip into the dirt. Top will fade but you still have the name and can rewrite.

I use old binders from work , the hard plastic type , cut in strips with a paper cutter and use a sharpie marker , works great

You can make aulminum tags that will last for years.
Easy to make.

Click the link below to see how to make long lasting aluminum tags. My Flicker photo.

Karyl

Here is a link that might be useful: Aluminum tags will last for seven years or more.