P-touch labels applied to a plastic stick; I make the sticks out of white 3/4" panelling coving from HD. The p-touch isn't bothered by water or dirt. I use these to label all my plants; the labels last for up to 10 years, maybe more.

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?

Plastic above the ground eventually becomes brittle. I've been trying the old mini blind lengths also. With 8-inch lengths you can write the name at each end with pencil or a "paint pen". Half gets buried. The paint pens are available at Michael's craft stores and black is the most permanent. Made by Uchida. Another back up is a digital photo (highest resolution) of the freshly planted rhiz with marker showing beside new rhiz. With your hand drawn map and a copy of your order !!! you will be in good shape. If you can afford the markers Irisawe is using, they're the best! Another idea I've read of is to punch a hole large enuf in the label's end to fit over a bamboo stake. Then as the iris 'travels' the staked label can be moved. Of course they may travel in opposite directions.

Might they have a telephone number as well?