I am so glad you were able to use it and had time to get to it. That's the hard part sometimes is just having time to get to it all.

I didn't want to start another topic, so I'll ask here. One of the pepper plants I've been trying to ID has 'Redmalil' on the tag. I've not been able to find any info on it, so I'm not sure if I'm reading it correctly. Any help would be appreciated!

Most of my gardening efforts are pretty generic compared to some, so my knowledge of some the varieties are foreign to me. Not complaining at all! This has added a lot of excitement to the 'experimental' aspect of my garden this year!

I started a completely separate notebook to track and keep notes on the 'new to me' varieties. Making mental notes on a few new ones each year is easier, but this is a whole lot more fun!

Here's a couple of guesses:

Maule's Red/Red Maule

or

Red Marconi

That was as close as I had gotten. I'll take my reading glasses and take another look!

On another note, whoever came up with the idea of repurposing window blinds? Great idea! I just happen to have a bunch that haven't been tossed in the roll off. I'll be hanging onto a few to use next year!

Hey Bruce, might have been me with the window blinds, except I don't really remember sticking a plant in your pile. Did you end up an an echinacea? (or heaven forbid, lemon balm) I'm pretty sure I stuck in some zucchetta for you though :) Cut up window blinds would make a great gift for the giveaway :)

Bruce, A lot of us repurpose old blinds that way. I've done it for 10 or 15 years. One blind, cut up into the sizes you want, can give you a gazillion plant labels. I cut the blinds up, put the plant labels in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and stick it in my seed box, which is a large Sterilite storage container. If you want permanent labels that don't fade, you can use the Industrial Sharpies sold at Lowe's or Home Depot. Their ink doesn't fade in sunlight and I've had labels made using them last at least 5 years. I used to buy pricier garden marking pens online, but once I discovered the Industrial sharpies, I found I could get several of them for the price/shipping costs of garden marking pens ordered from seed companies. If you want to reuse the plant labels, use a regular Sharpie, though these generally fade within a few months. With some markers, you can scrub the seemingly permanent words off the miniblind slat with just a little rubbing alcohol on a paper towel.

Then, not to be wasteful, I use the top part of the miniblind as a stake after all the cord and slats are removed, and save the cord to use to tie plants to stakes or trellises.

For prettier plant labels, every time we empty out a jar of home-canned goods, I save the flat lid that cannot be re-used. When I get a few dozen or whatever, I spray paint them with either dark green or terra cotta spray paint. I then drill or punch a hole in them so I can run a wire or string through them. You can write plant names of them with Sharpies, paint pens, whatever, and attach them to the plants. They are pretty little markers made from a flat lid that otherwise would have gone into the trash. I haven't made any new ones lately, so I have a couple hundred used flat lids waiting to be painted. These look especially nice with perennials, but I also use them for veggies, herbs and fruit trees.

Lisa, I think some years we have had bundles of mini-blind plant stakes at the Spring Fling as door prizes, haven't we? They are incredibly useful. I've always stuck them in the ground near the plant they belong with, but I'm getting too old (and my garden is getting too snakey) to bend over all summer and stick my fingers in the mulch and dig around looking for the label, so next year I'm going to try using a hole punch to punch a hole in the miniblind slat. Then I can use a zip tie or an old twisty tie off a bread bag to attach the label to the front of the tomato cage at eye level so it is easy to find and read. Some years I also have used duct tape to attach the plant labels to the stakes that I use to stake the tomato cages, but they become buried under the foliage after a while.

Dawn

I got some from Dana one year as part of a whole "plant tagging" gift. It was great!

I got the idea here and do that also always scouring yard sales for cheap blinds. I use pencil and stick the written part in the soil since I have to pull the tag to read it any way. Lol. That way it doesn't sun fade.

Our renters moved out and I will have many blinds. Some of them are purple. Maybe maroon. Any uses for the long slatted verticle door blinds? About 3" wide and also purple. Maybe I will use them for markers in my purple fall garden.

Some days I feel like I'm just trying to catch up, sometimes it takes years!

The mystery pepper is in fact a Red Maule! It's amazing what a little insight on what the possibilities were, helped out! That and reading glasses! Looking at the peppers online was further proof, as the fruit is identical.

Lisa, I did get a couple of different Korean Squash, that are growing like crazy! They are setting fruit and the way they are growing, I expect to harvest within days. There's also an Armenian Striped Cucumber that I planted on the same trellis. It's doing well. Didn't see an echinacea, but I did get some of the honeysuckle, along with a blackberry Lilly and a mini petunia. Oh, and comfrey! Can't wait for it to get going!

I put the comfrey in a temporary location, where if I don't get all of it transplanted and it comes back, I'll have it in two locations.

Sad thing is, I threw away several brand new blinds, I didn't want to store while we rebuild. Oops! Even if I had to buy brand new to use for stakes, it would still be a cheap way to mark plants!

Dawn, I love your lid label idea! I may try to spray paint some a flat black and write the names with a white paint pen for the perennials.

I gave you the Red Maule, Bruce. It's a chili....and it's pretty warm! I guess my penmanship was a bit wonky. heh!

I got the idea of the mini-blind hack here too. And just FYI - I buy the smallest, cheapest one I can find in white at WM (almond offends my OCD side that says it looks dirty....in the garden, right?!) I had to buy new this year and I probably have enough plant tags for 5 years!

Another neat idea DH came up with this year is the plastic labels that are used at his work for labeling rebar. They're perforated. We wrote the name of a cage plant on the tag, then folded in half - stapling the two ends together. This was place at eye level so I no longer have to bend over and dig thru the basil (or crab grass) to remind myself which plant it is.

Paula

Amy, I think you're going to have a awesome purple fall garden!!! Color-coordinated plant tags will be just perfect and it surely will make you look like the most organized woman on earth.

Bruce, Be sure you let us know how the Korean Squash do for you. I took a bunch of them to the Spring Fling in an effort to get more people to try them to see if the Korean Squash are as SVB-resistant for you all as they have been for me. I feel like Korean Squash is the best-kept secret in the south and we need to get the word out

Sandplum, It's not an original idea. I got it from someone else, or maybe from a magazine article, and I was excited to find it because I hated just throwing away the one-use flat canning lids. Now I don't have to, and neither do you.

Paula, Thanks for solving the pepper mystery!

Man, are we all getting a little older or what? This year we have spent a lot of time talking about ways to avoid bending over. We're not getting older, we're getting better. Sure we are. And we're getting creakier and achier. And ache-ier probably isn't really a word, but it fit better with creakier than 'more achey' would have.

Dawn

Paula, your penmanship really wasn't as much the issue as it was my eyesight! I hate wearing glasses and me and contacts do not get along!

I am curious to see how the Korean squash does and I'll provide feedback. My initial impression is they seem to attract more squash bugs, but some of that could be where I have them. If the the SVBs don't bother them, then they are well worthwhile.

My cedar mulch seems to be helping, but it's not an end all solution. I still have to stay on top of them.

I chased one SVB moth around the other day and never did catch up! Now it's two a day inspections on the squash, zucchini and white scalloped, hoping to spot them early.

I got so many goodies at the Spring Fling that I feel a little guilty. I was like...I can just take this plant? I kept asking everyone around me. (such a newbie)

Lisa, thank you for the echinacea. It's so beautiful. I have a round wine bottle bed especially for echinacea. I scattered some seeds around in November. They've sprouted and are coming up...but yours already have flowers and near flowers. I really, really love echinacea.

Also, got a Super sonic tomato--thanks to whoever brought it! It has some large fruit--just waiting for it to turn red.

...and milkweed--thanks! It's doing well.

I think the remainder of the things I picked up were from Dawn--honeysuckle, some type of cucumber, and the korean squash. It's all still living and doing well--even the honeysuckle that's still in the pot you brought it in. I know where I want it, but haven't had a chance to get it there yet.

I always want to know who I give my "babies" to...and want to know that they're taking good care of them. Like, I have several lavender plants I started from seed--I've found myself being snobby about who I think will be a good lavender parent and who won't.