The round tags that the "big guys" generally use represent licensing fees paid for propagation rights for exactly the number of tags purchased. In other words, if Certified Roses wants to grow and sell 1000 bushes of "Easy Does It," it pays the licensing fee for 1000 plants to Weeks (who owns the rights in the U.S), gets propagation materials for that quantity and 1000 tags indicating that the licensing fees were paid for each such newly propagated plant. Those round metal tags are how the "big guys" make sure they've been paid their licensing fees. Namely, if a plant they are due licensing fees on shows up in a market without those tags, the propagators can be tracked down and made to pay the fees. Kathy p.s. They were selling the tags in your link for $.99 at the 99 Cents Only stores, i.e. 50 tags for a buck, last year. I bought a whole bunch of packages of those, and that's what I use now.

this is my system. Neuter the flower by using scissors to cut just the open pollen casings(anther -- stamen). I do this by putting an envelope (I re-use the paper ones my bills come in- so I have plenty! :)) just below the pollen, covering the pistil to avoid dropping the pollen onto it. Record the flower name on the outside and place it in the door of the fridge. I would then select a donor pollen, use tweezers to remove pollen from the envelope and apply it to the pod parent (like all the highly scientific tools and terms?)usually several days in a row. As far as record keeping I cut plastic blinds (from the thrift store- 50 cents or so) into 2" lengths (easily done with scissors), punch a hole in them with a paper punch and label with a pencil (easily re-used by wetting and erasing with a regular pencil eraser). Pod parent first with pollen parent second (pod- "Novella X Picotee> -pollen). Use a twist tie to tie it just at the base of the flower close to the main stem. Rather unsightly for show but highly effective when pollinating all the flowers with different pollen. I could have 4 crosses on one scape all different donating parents and never lose track. About 5-6 weeks later when the pod is ripe I then cut the pod off with the label and again store it in a paper envelope. I test germinate 10 by planting in seed starter mix and newspaper tubes under lights. Generally I get 80% germination. (hence all the babies). I trade, and sell the seeds. last year I had about 3000 seeds! A few too many for the spare room. I have also successfully used the water germination method. Float the seeds in water. It is okay for them to touch but not overlap. I keep an eye on the water and add or change most of the water. You should start seeing results in about 10-14 days. What I don't like about this method is transplanting the seeds with such a fragile root into soil. I find it more finiky (that a word?) than just straight into soil. When I plant them in the soil I stick the fat end of the seed, papery covering and all, into the soil standing it upright (vertically). Really good results and very strong seedling. The soil method takes much longer to see results. I believe up to 6 weeks for some, even in the same batch. All depends on your patience level. I found unsuccessful pollination occured when I applied pollen only once and then there is that diploid issue which I have not figured out yet. One of these days I will do research on it. I remember quite some time ago it was mentioned in some news group but I didn't know enough then to understand let alone ask an intelligent question. I do know it would explain why Papillo butterfly did not cross with anything that I tried. Having mentioned Papillo butterfly. I bought two from RC last year and gave the one with the scape to my mother for Christmas. The second one came with some rot, I notified them (and was told on my next order they would fix the problem- and they did on the next order!) I did not get flowers of course on that one. This year I only got leaves again! I thought I read somewhere here that they can be difficult to get to rebloom. Any suggestions of how to get it to perform?

I've potted-up lamb's ears two different ways. Neither is quick. One way is to do it in the fall and I only take one stem with roots on it. I then leave it to winter over and by the time market starts in the spring, it has several new stems branching out and looks like a well developed plant. I make sure it is well water before I cover it up with straw for the winter. The other way solves the water/dry issue. I only use this way if I have a lot of room and don't mind having a pot visable in the garden. I take a 4" pot filled with potting soil, place it next to/under a stem with roots dangling, then lay the area with the roots on top of the potting soil in the pot. I secure the whole thing with a sod staple over the stem, through the pot, and out a drainage hole in the bottom. When I see new stems (month or so) I clip it from the mother plant.

If you use the correct procedure and work carefully it is very easy to do. First off, give yourself plenty of room to work. Begin by marking where you want the stub out to be, then make a horizontal line on the wall about 4" above and a second horizontal line about 4" below. Begin on either line at a point about directly above the point where you wan the stub out to be and punch the saw into the wall, then cut horizontally until you feel a stud. Next gpo back to your starting point and continue cutting the horizontal line in the opposite direction until you feel the stud on the opposite side. Now go to the other line and repeat the process. You can then cut down on each end, keeping the saw tight against the stud and remove the sheet rock. Keep the sheet rock intact because it will fit back in the hole perfectly to close up when your done. Cut two pieces of 2x4 about 3" longer than the distance from the bottom to the top of your hole. On either side of the hole slip a piece of the 2x4 in so that the 2x4 is sistered tight against the existing stud and the tips of your 2x4 are slightly behind the sheet on both the top and bottom. Secure the short 2x4 to the stud with a couple screws. Now measure the horizontal distance between your new 2x4's and cut a piece of 2x4 to make your blocking. Insert the blocking and secure each end with a couple screws, then you can attach your drop ear to the blocking. Once you have the drop ear mounted mark the location of the drop ear on the sheet rock panel you cut out, drill a hole for the stub out, then set the sheet rock back in the hole and secure it to the 2x4's on each end with a couple sheet rock screws. At this point you will have a slight gap equal to width of the stab saw blade to mud and tape.