A Home for Plant Labels

HERE'S what to do with your plant labels, since Amy asked. They belong, as she correctly noted, NOT in the frickin' garden, but in your GARDEN BOOK, which I know you all have because you're serious gardeners. Now in the unlikely event that I'm wrong about your garden books, I'll wax rhapsodic for a while about my own, if you don't mind.

Picture me, if you will, showing people around my garden.  They ask about a plant and I can tell them exactly what it is and they can go buy one of their own. Visitors love it when gardeners can do that! Or if I want one more of something, I can buy one more of the same plant because I know what it is.  See how this works? When someone asks how fast a plant grows I can tell them oh, I bought it in 2002, so there you see three years of growth.  Again, nifty information to have at your fingertips.  Same goes for where I bought a plant or whether the nursery thinks it's drought-tolerant or not.  See, it's all there in THE BOOK.

How it works is real simple.  I make a page for each plant that's currently in the garden and I tape the label to it, then write down the date of acquisition and the source.  If there's no label I write what I know about the plant, from whatever source.  I have a tab for annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees. If I'm super busy, I just tuck the label in the book until I have more time - like winter. 

Now at the risk of seeming a tad compulsive, maybe a Myers-Briggs type J (guilty as charged),  I'll mention in passing that I also have binders for bulbs, for plans, and for miscellaneous gardening information.  But please, readers, Don't hate me because I'm organized.

Comments

[Amy Stewart]

Woo-hoo! I love it!

[djinn]

I'm not nearly so organized, but I too keep the tags.

I put them into the little photo albums - I find the kind where the photo sleeve is closed on the bottom, then just drop the tags in. (Sometimes the bottom needs to be clipped off to fit)

I did attempt to sort these out by border location, but that project petered out midstream. Maybe I need to by a book for each border... hey!

[Gardening crash-test dummy]

Awe-inspiring. What a great idea? I have tried to keep these things in my mind but am failing as the plant numbers increase. I'm not nearly that organised but I'm going to give it a go. Thanks for the tips.

[Kasmia]

I keep my tags in a book too - my gardening journal. The journal is so full of tags that it doesn't really close. I like your method - I might switch.
When I order from catalogs the plants don't always come with very informative tags (or no picture on the tag!). I cut out the picture from the catalog and paste it in the book.

[Catherine]

What a fantastic idea. I have been toying with the idea of documenting my plants - memory is failing fast and half the time I can't even remember their names let alone when I planted them. Now just to get organised - maybe a new folder, pens etc. Yipee another trip to the shops - and maybe even some more plants, after all a girl can't have too many can she.

[Alice]

I do ..... hate you, that is. You sound like my husband who has everything in files, even the most useless information. I tried to throw out lots of stuff once ... I mean, it was all to do with appliances, etc. that we no longer owned. Not a popular move. Now I just do it anyway.

But seriously, I think your book is a great idea. I hate not knowing the name of a plant, yet I hate the sight of labels jutting out at perverse angles from the plant. I assume that you also note in your book where exactly you planted the plant in the garden?

[Sandy]

You must be a Libra. My friend Mrs. Wilson and you would get along great. I do keep (most) of my tags. They are in different locations in containers around the house and garden shed. I used to have a book like that years ago but I'm just not that organized. I do have a uncanny memory as far as plants and varieties go. I just seem to remember them. It isn't really all that important to me if I remember them all or where they are planted. I move things around alot! I also give away lots of plants or heave them if I don't care that much for them. I sometimes have plant tags in the garden but I bury them so you can only see the top. My garden is so full that you can't see them anyways. I am a very mellow type of gardener and don't really take much stuff too seriously. I think I might have been abit of hippie if I would have grown up in the sixties! LOL.

[Susan]

Sandy, your comment made me wonder, since I WAS a hippie in the '60s. I think I got motivated to keep records when I started teaching, esp since I use the plants in my garden as suggestions to people.

[Sandy]

I always admire people who are organized. Every New Years Eve that is my resolution. I think it just comes down to be very lazy. I keep telling myself I should but it just never happens :)

[Sandy]

I meant to say "being very lazy"