Where do you get your garden plant labels?
tepelus
16 years ago
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janepa
16 years agotweetypye
16 years agoRelated Discussions
If you're short of plant labels
Comments (15)cyrus_gardner In my garden the wooden popsicle sticks turned dark and began to decompose after a couple months. I could still read some through the dark mold(?)but some were too far gone. Now I raid the trash for mini blinds. One blind has enough material to last for a LONG time. I mark one side with a paint marker or a soft lead pencil. Black Sharpie will last longer than other colors and brands but fades out in strong summer sun. The pencil and paint markers have never failed me. If you want large fat markers for garden use, ask at Menards, Home Depot, etc. where they custom cut vertical blinds for patio doors. The cut offs are about 2 or 3 inches wide and they usually trim off 8-14 inches. Usually they are glad to give you the scrap after they look at you weird for a bit....See MoreDo you enjoy your garden, or do you just enjoy gardening?
Comments (22)Well, the party line answer is clearly both, and obviously for me too, there is enjoyment of the process and the results. I think that must be true for any gardener who is involved in the making of their own garden space and who isn't getting paid for doing it. But I find that as I get older and farther down the garden path, I would like to enjoy the results more, and I find that the process itself can sometimes be tedious, expensive, require too much patience, and overwhelming. So I am going to be brutally honest here -- while I enjoy the work of gardening to some extent, if I could hire more people to do more things for me and just enjoy the results myself, I would do it. The problem is that, for the most part, if you are a real plant geek like I am (and a whole lot of others who responded above), you can't really hire people to arrange plants for you in the way you want them. So there is a certain amount that you have to be involved with yourself. Being involved again in the creation of a new garden, and having left a mature one, I have to say that so far, I enjoyed the mature one more. The last few years I spent there I did work a lot in the garden still, of course, but the proportion of time spent just enjoying the garden was greater. That doesn't mean that I was sitting when I enjoyed it. It doesn't mean that I didn't pull a weed or two when I walked with a glass of wine in the evening. But after 20 years working on that space, the garden felt "finished" to a great extent. That doesn't mean that there would never be anything new. But the garden had a certain cohesiveness that is certainly lacking in my new garden. It also had as much seasonal interest as I could pack into 2/3 acre in my rotten climate. So, weather permitting, the garden always had moments of great beauty and enjoyment for me. But then again, I know that one of the reasons the garden meant so much to me is that I had spent 20 years making it. I had watched the trees, shrubs, perennials that I had planted get moved from one place to anohter (NAY he says, "I MOVED them from one place to another"...) until they finally found a place that they (and I) liked. Still garden making takes patience, and it is hard in the early stages not to want more results, with less work at garden making. I think that's one reason why, relatively speaking, I did not take many pictures of the new garden this year -- in the last year I was at my old place I took over a thousand, this year less than 100. A reflection that the garden was more about process than results, so far. One of the greatest times of garden enjoyment I ever remember in my old garden was after a big garden tour. The weeds were all pulled, the plants all relatively pristine (it was mid-June), the crowds were gone, my family and the dog were gone, the walks and drives all neat and clean, no cars or other distractions to be seen. Then I walked through and enjoyed my own garden, for a couple of hours, nobody but me and the hummingbirds and butterflies. One of the best times of garden enjoyment I ever had, along with very early foggy mornings and late summer evenings. Give me more of those, and less back-breaking work, any day.......See MoreWhat mislabeled roses do you get in your garden?
Comments (18)I have ordered hundreds of roses in the last 10 years, and I have received mislabeled roses from every nursery I ordered from ... when dealing in these quantities, it's likely to have at least one or two mislabels among the hundreds. The only nursery I can think that I haven't ordered from is Antique Rose Emporium. Not yet, anyway. Vintage has sent me a few. 'September Morn' is actually a deep pink HT of the same style. Since SM is a sport, I wonder if it may be a reversion but I doubt it. I was supposed to get 'Gloire des Rosomanes', and what bloomed was a weird, pink, Noisette-looking rose. Gregg said that he thinks it's 'Jacques Amiot'. It looks like the JA photos on HMF, and I love having it in my Noisette collection. 'Mrs. Aaron Ward' turned out to be a deep pink HP. I received 'Gloire des Rosomanes' twice instead of 'Birdie Blye'. I blame this on someone, perhaps, collecting old rootstock instead of the rose itself. It's understandable ... how many times have we stood in front of a rose with a label and the rose was clearly Dr. Huey now? Most of my mislabels are better than the ones I ordered. When Sequoia was closing, I ordered a HT they called 'Schultheis' American Beauty'. What I got was 'Schoener's Nutkana', which is a superstar in my garden. It is far too large for the HT-sized space that it occupies, and its HT neighbors will appreciate it when I finally move it to a larger spot. Rogue Valley sent "Reuter China" instead of 'Reveil Dijonnais' one year. I wonder if they accidently dropped the pots or something, because I discovered the rose in that same order that was tagged as "Hoag House Cream" was actually 'Reveil Dijonnais' ... and nothing turned out to be HHC. Anyway, "Reuter China" is an interesting China/Tea that I'm really pleased to have in my collection. Palatine sent me 'Princess de Monaco' instead of 'Prinz Herzeprinzchen'. This was a computer error where both links on their order page pointed to the same rose in their inventory list. They sent me the correct rose in the spring. The only time this happened and I was angry about it was early on in my rose-buying career when I ordered and received "Smith's Parish" and 'Fortune's Five-Color Rose' in the same order ... not knowing that these are considered to be the same rose. I've got a million of 'em. Ashdown sent me 'Manetti' instead of "Ralph Moore's South African OGR". (Perhaps another case of someone along the line propagating rootstock.) I perpetuated this mistake one year myself. I propagated this rose when it was young (and I had no reason to believe that it was misidentified) and I sold two of them. I did the right thing as soon as I realized my mistake, replacing the incorrect rose with another rose of the customer's choice ... since I obviously didn't have the rose they ordered in my garden to replace the wrong rose with. There are a million reasons why a rose you order won't be the rose you actually receive. A reputable nursery will do what they can to make it right. The labels on my garden mysteries have been edited to fit their situation. For most of them, the mistaken ID has a strike through it, with the word 'NOT' above, and I have things listed in my database as "Not Mrs. Aaron Ward", "Not September Morn", "Not Pristine", etc. It's the best I can do....See MoreWhat do you modify in your garden to continue your garden passion
Comments (43)Kim said... >My original obsession was outrageously out of hand and I loved it. [...] I'm keeping to the level area as much as possible. Weeding that slope is offensive enough without having to traipse up and down, sliding on every other step, to maintain anything down there. I know I will resent the ones which go on the slope and will eventually allow them to go the way of the Dodo, so I'm choosing to rid myself of them, instead. That's a LOT of roses, quite a few of which are seedlings either generated through my obsession or those shared with me by other "obsessives", but that is what it is going to take to keep this "fun", doable and prevent the water requirements from eating me out of house, home and desire. Weeding through them to maintain those which are just happier to be here with me and those which are endangered, has been a real chore. Now, if there was a ton of level land with high ground water. Hi Kim, Back in the Dark Ages we lived in California in just the sort of spot you are conjuring up as a high ground water fix. But native trees really like spots like that too... and our house had lots of shade, too much shade for most roses. Still, we wouldn't have dreamed of cutting down a tree. We didn't own the house, we like trees, and anyway, removing a tree was illegal without a good reason for a permit where we lived (a Monarch Butterfly preserve). Anyway, we were relative youngsters at the time and didn't know just how wet that property was until our vegetable garden was swimming in water during the winter months. It was fine, fine black silty sand that held on to the water pretty well too. Your post made me think about what we'd do if confronted with your lack of water problems back in California again. What you're doing makes a lot of sense. But I also am wondering whether a bank full of Renaes rambling around might not survive and also keep the weeds down once they proliferated and established themselves? They might take over the other remaining roses, but if you weren't still trying hard to keep those... A bunch of Renaes might not require so much watering once established? I don't think a big crowd of them would look bad at all, depending on personal tastes, of course. In fact, I prefer that kind of look. We've done that crowded thing in a pretty good sized area with azaleas and rhododendrons here; they all grow together and if there's a weed under there somewhere, well, you can't easily penetrate to find or see it. Once in awhile there's a tree sneaking in that will have to be pulled up, but basically it's too shady under all the plant thickness for most weeds to grow. And I adore the looks of those crowded plants! No, we don't have big problems with fungal diseases, even with the crowd. Maybe fewer than average problems, though phytopthera wilt sometimes does require some cutting back of rhododendron limbs. You know a big problem with azaleas and rhododendrons is that they aren't drought tolerant. Well, we have lost huge numbers since our drought problems began big time here around 2001. It's been wonderfully rainy most of the time during the last couple of years, but the next drought period is probably just around the corner... and if we lose some more azaleas and rhododendrons then, well, I'm thinking of trying to establish some Renaes and Annie Laurie McDowells in their place in the relatively sunnier spots... along with some more camellias, which are drought tolerant after the first year. (Though blooming is less than ideal if August and September are dry.) We lost our Annie Laurie McDowell to Rose Rosette Disease last year, but I am figuring that if it's anything like our Renae here, well, it's as no-care, no-worry a plant as any other plant of any kind we've ever had in our yard. Not a touch of blackspot or any other disease here thus far (though that may well change just a bit as we get more shade as the sun angle changes during the fall). Anyway, I'm hoping for another Annie Laurie McDowell eventually too. Ours is a no-spray all-organic yard for everything we grow and Renae fits well into that way of doing things. I think Annie Laurie McDowell will too. I know it hurts to cut back some on what you are able to continue doing, Kim. But I keep thinking mostly about your achievements and how much you have helped so many others in what you have already contributed. Thank you! Best wishes, Mary...See Moreokbt
16 years ago
tsbccowboy
16 years agoI have used both Paw Paw Everlast and Eon markers. Paw Paw's are cheaper but I prefer the Eon markers. They are thicker and have a much nicer edge. I have been cut (small nuisance cuts) by the square edges on the Paw Paw markers.
The following pictures are my progression on markers.
Paw Paw Everlast Label. This marker can get knocked of the stakes.
Paw Paw marker with Brother P-Touch label. The square edges can cut your fingers.
Eon marker with Brother P-touch label. It is thicker with a nicer edge.weldontx
16 years agofairysoapgirl
16 years agomlwgardener
16 years agotweetypye
16 years agovalleyrimgirl
16 years agoI make my own copper plant labels. I buy tooling copper and cut it into 1/2" x 3" pieces and hole punch a hole in one end. Then I cut a wire coat hanger into 5 pieces with a wire cutter and using a pair of pliers, I bend each piece through and around so that the copper tag is securely at the top of the hanger.
The copper tooling is soft enough that by writing firmly on it, it will indent permanently. I have been making these tags for years and years and have always been able to read the tag since the indentation is still there.
I tuck them behind each perennial in my flowerbeds at ground level. If I wish to know the name, I just go behind the plant, pull out the tag and read the name.
I have tried wooden tags, plastic tags, original plant tags from the nursery that came with the plant, venetian blinds, etc. I needed a cheap permanent tag to mark my perennials and this method costs me about $.15 each to make. If I only had 100 or so to do, I would just buy the tags, but since I have 15 times that many I needed a homemade way of making permanent tags.
Brenda
FlowerGardener
16 years agohoneybunny2 Fox
16 years agomissylin
16 years agomissylin
16 years agogreenthumbfish
16 years agomissylin
15 years agofairysoapgirl
15 years agoMissylin - I was using Paw-Paw Cap Style labels (C - on the orderform), but found that the "cap" would come off on a few of them after a year or so of regular garden abuse. Most of them are fine... Here is a pic:
I just bought their Miniature Labels (M - on the orderform), so we will see how that goes.
Here is a pic:
rarejem
15 years agofairysoapgirl
15 years agonjmomma
15 years agodragonkeep
15 years agoladydonna
15 years agosarann7
15 years agonjmomma
15 years agoOk, here is a pic of mine with the preprinted label. The label is silver and has UV coating.
berrytea4me
15 years ago
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