A poster on the conifers site had metal tags made with the name of each plant and painstakingly wired them to each tree. Shortly after, his small child went by clinking as she walked. She had just as painstakingly removed each tag and made jewelry for herself with them! I make a list of plants I bring home, sort out their height, width and light requirements then insert them in diagrams I have for my different beds after planting. I also keep the tags from the plants in a notebook so I know the latin name, where I got the plant and what I paid for it. If I ever add it all up I'll be shocked, I'm sure! I like the tag stands and the spreadsheets are a great idea! Barb

Long time lurker here. I created an Access database for all my garden plants, including daylilies, and would be utterly lost without it. I can track all the plants I currently have, as well as all the ones I've lost over the years. I can run reports on different suppliers and see whose plants I kill most regularly and which survive my attentions. Unfortunately, as Julie said above, I can no longer deny that I am a plant addict. With well over 2600 entries (one for each plant) and a report that adds up the costs (what was I thinking when I wrote that one???), I can see my garden probably cost more than my car! Fortunately, here in the great, white north, rust will only be a problem with the car!

I have a database in the computer with all my perennials/bulbs/shrubs recorded in it. Each winter I make sure that it is fully updated and then in spring I make a hard copy that I usually keep in my vehicle to have with me all summer. In my database I record... name, common (eg. bellflower) name, 'real'...(eg, campanula for the bellflower) sun and/or shade height/width color of flower description of plant location in yard year acquired hybridizer year registered by hybridizer what I paid and if in a trade what it would be worth who I got it from awards it has received bloom time zone requirements parentage dates I took a picture of it date the best picture of it was taken so as to quickly find the picture if someone wants to see a picture of it. size of leaf (for hostas) size of flower (needed for my daylilies) pruning group (for clematis) There are now over 2000 different perennials in our yard. I spend time each morning taking pictures of what is newly blooming in the yard. This is recorded into a binder and then transferred into the computer. In the winter I will take the time to label each of the pictures and transfer one good one of each perennial into my Photobucket album. With hostas I like to take a picture of the individual leaf, its flowers and a clump picture. Each perennial also gets a homemade copper tag made up for it which is placed immediately behind the plant. Since I have traded all across Canada, sell/trade privately in our area and have a table at the local farmer's market with my perennials, it is very important for me to know the name of each perennial and what it should be worth. I could never go by memory with my plants. Hats off to those who can. Brenda

Well -- time to start your decorating notebooks!! In your case I would buy several good-looking matching binders -- one for each room or space. Add LOTS of those plastic sleeve pages -- as well as ones that have a zipper close to hold fabric or other swatches or samples. THEN add basic pages with measurements for each space -- including the doorways; doors; windows and a basic sketched plan of the room that marks where electrical outlets etc. will be placed. Then go through your R&D (research and development) materials -- and cut out what you need. Also note (with yellow sticky notes) on the pages about "Purchasing Information" Also make note of "your Trends" as you cut out the photos .... perhaps a color, fabric style or type, furniture type etc. Helps you to narrow your choices. So VERY Important to add paint samples, floor samples, fabric samples! Now take these notebooks EVERYWHERE -- you never know when a bargain will jump out of a crowd! Also carry a good measuring tape and a camera! ALSO -- always keep hard copies of e-mails between you and your contractor, suppliers and builders etc. Let them know that you will require hard copies of documents! Add photos of any and all "questionable" items or practices. Make sure that you sign off on EACH and EVERY change -- and keep a copy. Keep all of this in a separate binder ((with sections for each room)) under the title "General/Legal Building Information" Keep it in a place where you and your DH can refer to it on a daily Or hourly basis! Also keep an online diary of the whole procedure -- again -- so you can keep a very good track of the timeline on each stage of the process! Add photos!! And then download it to a disc ....