How I label my plants (& aloes October 2025)
Seeing how I’m pretty obsessive about plant identification, I make every effort to label the plants in my garden. However, much to my chagrin, this is an all-too-common occurrence:
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| Broken plant tags, grrrr |
After a while, plastic tags simply disintegrate — much more quickly in the hot sun, of course, than in the shade. The thinner the plastic, the faster that happens.
For a while, I used the tags above, but they seem to last no more than two years. Then I switched to much thicker (and longer) tags, but I found them to be too hard to write on with a pencil. I think they’re meant for permanent markers, which are anything but permanent. Tags with faded writing are just as bad as broken tags.
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| 6" tags, hard to write on with a pencil |
After some trial and error, I think I’ve found my forever tags. They’re made of plastic that is more flexible and hence seem less prone to snapping, and, even more importantly, they have a surface that’s rough enough to write on with a pencil.
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| 4" Foraineam tags |
They’re 0.8" wide × 4" long and are made by Foraineam. I bought them on Amazon, 1000 tags for $17.99. Once I discovered how much I liked them, I ordered another 1000. I should have enough tags to last me a few years.
My writing tool of choice is a mechanical pencil. For a long time I used cheap plastic ones — the kind that comes in a 40-pack for $10. They’re perfectly fine, but I wanted something a bit more substantial so I got a 4-pack of Pentel mechanical drafting pencils in different tip sizes (0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm). They’re so well made, they’re my forever pencils — a perfect match for my forever tags.
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| The Pentel mechanical drafting pencils I prefer |
Honestly, I don’t really need four different tip sizes (lead diameters). 0.7mm or 0.9mm are great for my purposes. 0.3mm and 0.5mm are almost too fine, but they allow me to write really small.
I don’t know where I got the 4×6" mini clipboard, but you can buy similar ones on Amazon. I finally have the perfect setup for writing plant tags!
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| My perfect setup |
For larger plants (like shrubs) I’ve been using tags made of soft aluminum. You can write on them using a ballpoint pen, a stylus, or even nail because you simply emboss the letters into the aluminum. You can attach them to plants using a piece of wire, or you can use metal stakes. Here’s a tag I wrote in August 2020. It’s as legible as it was five years ago.
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The biggest problem I have with tags is that sometimes they simply disappear. (Actually, this happens all too often.) I have no idea where they go. Do squirrels steal them? Or human troublemakers? Considering I go to great lengths to label my plants properly, this is highly annoying.
I try to keep track of my plant purchases in spreadsheets, but what works best for me is to take photos and add labels in Photoshop. This does take time initially, but identifying a plant whose label has gone missing is quick and easy.
To illustrate, below are all the aloes in the L-shaped sidewalk bed in front of the house. I’ve added (or moved around) quite a few of them this summer so this is a good time to take inventory. I don’t expect these photos to be of much interest to most of you, but for me, they’ll serve as valuable reminders of what I planted where.
Below each photo I’ve added the names of the plants so I can easily find them through a simple text search. (Unfortunately, AI hasn’t progressed far enough yet to allow searching for text in images although I’m sure this is only a matter of time.)
And yes, I have hand-written tags for all of these plants — at least for the time being.
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Aloe dawei
Aloe rupestris
Aloe umfoloziensis
Aloe glauca
Aloe (mawii × globuligemma) × betsileensis
Aloe elegans
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Agave titanota
Aloe aculeata × wickensii
Agave parrasana × parryi var. truncata
Aloe marlothii Utrecht
Aloe [(zubb × marlothii) × zubb)] × yellow pseudorubroviolacea
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Aloe marlothii Utrecht
Aloe lavranosii
Aloe tomentosa
Aloe ‘Safari Sunset’
Aloe buhrii
Aloe schelpei
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Aloe speciosa × barberae
Aloe cheranganiensis
Aloe ‘Scarlet Rockets’
Aloe volkensii ssp. multicaulis
Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’
Aloe globuligemma × marlothii
Aloe schoelleri
Aloe ‘Unicorn’ (peglerae × white ferox)
Aloe petricola × excelsa
Aloe laeta hybrid
Aloe fievettii
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Aloe speciosa × barberae
Aloe cameronii
Aloe comosa
Aloe cheranganiensis
Aloe ‘Scarlet Rockets’
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Aloe speciosa × barberae
Aloe cheranganiensis
Aloe ‘Scarlet Rockets’
Aloe volkensii ssp multicaulis
Aloe globuligemma × marlothii
Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’
Aloe schoelleri
Aloe ‘Unicorn’ (peglerae × white ferox)
Aloe laeta hybrid
Aloe petricola × excelsa
Aloe labworana
Aloe fievettii
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Aloe speciosa × barberae
Aloe cheranganiensis
Aloe volkensii ssp multicaulis
Aloe globuligemma × marlothii
Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’
Aloe schoelleri
Aloe ‘Verity Nice’
Aloe ‘Unicorn’ (peglerae × white ferox)
Aloe laeta hybrid
Aloe labworana
Aloe petricola × excelsa
Agave parrasana ‘Globe’ × ovatifolia
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Aloe speciosa × barberae
Aloe cameronii
Aloe cheranganiensis
Aloe ‘Scarlet Rockets’
Aloe volkensii ssp multicaulis
Aloe globuligemma × marlothii
Salvia reptans ‘Blue Willow’
Aloe ‘Unicorn’ (peglerae × white ferox)
Aloe schoelleri
Aloe laeta hybrid
Aloe ‘Verity Nice’
Aloe petricola × excelsa
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Aloe ‘Yemeni Gold’
Aloe divarivacata ‘Diablo’
Aloe pseudorubroviolacea
Aloe schoelleri hybid
Aloe aculeata ‘Super Spiny’
Aloe tomentosa
Aloe suprafoliata
Agave ‘Sky Silhouette’
Mangave ‘Bloodspot’ × Agave oteroi
Aloe ‘Hellskloof Bells’
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Aloe canarina
Aloe ‘Hot Flash’
Aloe ‘Spiney’
Aloe ‘Erik, Red and White’
Aloe (cameronii × aculeata) × ferox ‘Utrecht’
Aloe white ferox
Aloe chabaudii
Aloe ortholopha × marlothii
Aloe munchii
Aloe woodii
Aloe (ortholopha × spectabilis) × ferox ‘Utrecht’
Aloe cameronii × aculeata
Aloe ‘Neon Red’
Aloe maculata
Aloe labworana
Aloe ortholopha
Aloe striata × white ferox
Aloe brevifolia × claviflora
Aloe rubroviolacea
Aloe petrophila
Aloe distans
Aloe suprafoliata
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Aloe rubroviolacea
Aloe castanea
Aloe ‘Hot Flash’
Aloe striata × white ferox
Aloe ‘Safari Sunset’
Aloe ‘Erik, Red & White’
Aloe (cameronii × aculeata) × ferox ‘Utrecht’
Aloe ferox white
Aloe ortholopha × marlothii
Aloe ribauensis
Aloe aculeata × cryptopoda
Aloe suprafoliata yellow × arborescens yellow
Aloe cameronii × aculeata
Aloe ‘Neon Red’
Aloe maculata
Aloe (ortholopha × spectabilis) × ferox ‘Utrecht’
Aloe chabaudii
Aloe labworana
Aloe ortholopha
Aloe petrophila
Aloe brevifolia × claviflora
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Aloe castanea
Aloe ‘Hot Flash’
Aloe ‘Safari Sunset’
Aloe ‘Spiney’
Aloe ‘Erik, Red & White’
Aloe (cameronii × aculeata) × ferox ‘Utrecht’
Aloe ferox white
Aloe ortholopha × marlothii
Aloe ‘Jacob’s Ladder’
Aloe chabaudii
Aloe striata × white ferox
Aloe rubroviolacea
Aloe adigratana
Aloe canarina
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Aloe white ferox
Aloe munchii
Aloe woodii
Aloe ribauensis
Aloe ortholopha × marlothii
Aloe ‘Jacob’s Ladder’
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Aloe (ortholopha × spectabilis) × ferox ‘Utrecht’
Aloe ortholopha × marlothii
Aloe ‘Superman’
Aloe ukambensis
Aloe claviflora × marlothii
Aloe microstigma
Aloe aculeata × cryptopoda
Aloe suprafoliata yellow × arborescens yellow
Aloe cameronii × aculeata
Aloe ‘Neon Red’
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Aloe macleayi
Aloe ‘David’s Delight’
Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’
Aloe globuligemma
Agave wocomahi
Agave havardiana
Aloe capitata var. quartziticola × ferox
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Lophocereus schottii monstrose
Aloe spectabilis × vaombe
Aloe globuligemma
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Eucalyptus macrocarpa
Aloe ‘Erik the Red’
Lophocereus schottii monstrose
Aloe spectabilis × vaombe
Aloe lolwensis
Agave schidigera ‘Durango Delight’
Aloe striata × betsileensis
Agave wocomahi
Aloe capitata var. quartziticola
Hechtia argentea
Aloe mawii × vanbalenii
Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft’
Yucca rostrata
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Aloe spectabilis × vaombe
Aloe ‘Moon Glow’
Aloe lolwensis
Aloe capitata var. quartziticola × ferox
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I've used what look like the same labels from Amazon but after about 4 years in a sunny greenhouse they went brittle and snapped as well. I now only use them for seedlings. Permanent plants get aluminium labels with a Brother printed clear sticky label attached.
ReplyDelete4 years is about a long as I would expect. That's at least twice as long as the more brittle plastic I used before. It had never occurred to me to put clear sticky labels on aluminum. That sounds like a really neat solution.
DeleteYour photos with each plant labeled are a great resource! Thanks - they must have taken you a while to make.
ReplyDeleteI too find plastic labels very annoying. Think it's time to invest in some aluminum ones.
Aluminum is the best of the reasonably priced options, I think. If my current batch of plastic labels proves to be a dud, I'll switch to aluminum across the board.
DeleteDo you think wood labels, such as popsicle sticks, might work with a pencil? I've run into many of the same frustrations but prefer non-floppy tags that I can push into less than ideal soil. I also want to minimize the amount of plastic I'm introducing to the ecosystem... a somewhat futile effort, but I'm trying to be mindful about it.
ReplyDeleteFor your pictures, I recommend uploading them all to Google Photos (available on your phone or computer) because it can recognize handwritten text. It's also pretty good at searches in general, where I can type in a general term like "aloe" and it'll pull up everything it thinks fits that term even without any text or tags attached to the images. It's not perfect but in my experience it's probably over 90% accurate.
Popsicle sticks are a great (and eco-friendly) alternative, but they're temporary because they rot fairly quickly at the bottom.
DeleteAgreed, Google Photos is good about recognizing text in images, but it has to be done for each photo individually.
Wow. So. Many. Aloes :)
ReplyDeleteWhenever I do a post like this, I realize how over the top it all is :-)
DeleteLabel Printer Print any size completely fade and water proof
ReplyDeleteThe problem is still the tag you put the label on....
DeleteWow had no idea your aloe collection was so huge. Your inventory system is amazing. Missing tags and unidentified plants are always a pain. Here seem to derive extreme pleasure by pulling out plant tags and leaving them lying around well away from their namesakes. My rock garden group uses cheap metal window blinds, cutting them into small pieces then labelling with a pencil. They don't disintegrate. I have also heard that a lot of the botanical gardens use paint pens on their labels. They never smear or fade either.
ReplyDeleteI try to be as conscientious about keeping track as I can, knowing how much it annoys me when I can't ID a plant.
DeleteI volunteer at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery, and there they use grease pencils to write on plastic tags. Great solution but I find it's hard to write neatly with a grease pencil.
I really am impressed with your system, so organized and precise. *That is a LOT of ALOES! I've been using those thicker plastic labels (photo #2) and label maker labels. However, I really prefer how the clear sticks with clear labels "disappear" -but I can only find the clear tags with a coating on each side. That really slows me down, and I can't take the frustration - they don't peel off easily. I don't like having to run inside to make labels, and I've already ruined one label maker by leaving it outside (oops) in the rain. If your pencil tags stand the test of time, I'd gladly switch to that.
ReplyDeleteA lot of aloes for sure., but I so enjoy aloe flowers from late fall into late spring.
DeleteClear sticks with clear labels, these are my absolute favorites. Just take a look at this photo I took at Heronswood in Washington state. But I haven't been able to find clear sticks that are reasonable priced because I would need hundreds of them.
Wow, what a lot of Aloes! Lucky you! I have all the same problems as you with the labeling. I use the ones you are now using also. I print my labels on a Brother labeler, as someone else mentioned. They are good so far, but I see another responder said they only last about 4 years. I have some of the aluminum tags, too. I even made some myself, but too time-consuming. I also use popsicle sticks with a pencil, and so far, they are good. It is just such a dilemma! I really appreciate this post! I think that here in Phoenix, with the high heat constantly in summer and the lack of humidity most of the year, they don't even last as long as where you are. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteYour comment confirms that it's not just me dealing with this issue!
DeleteCould I send this post for our CACSS newsletter next month with some of your photos on the topic of the plant labels? Credited to you, of course!
DeleteOf course! You can always do that, no need to ask first š.
DeleteOh, I think it's very interesting...and very beautiful in an organized, artful way! Very nice! I was going to say that the blog, itself helps me remember what I have planted and the history/future planning for particular garden areas. And then you went a step beyond...wonderful! And I was going to mention the squirrels/chipmunks messing with my tags, which you mentioned, too. I love the idea of aluminum tags with tall spikes. I think I will do that in my next garden. :)
ReplyDeleteI do use my blog as a reference source all the time. I always think that I'm going to remember a certain plant ID, but of course I don't. Try to memorize a complex hybrid like this: Aloe [( mawii x globuligemma) x microstigma )] x marlothii!
DeleteMind Blown!
ReplyDeleteChavli.
LOL, that exploded head feeling is my default state :-)
DeleteOh how the German side of me wants to do this so much. I love the obsessive detail. I do spreadsheets, but inevitably something gets moved, dies, or I just plain forget to enter something in, and whoops, suddenly my spreadsheets are out of date. Would love to do the photography way, but things quickly get out-of-date in an environment that promotes out-of-control growth in spring/early summer followed by drought and then winter squish. I just may have to try the sturdy plastic tags you found. Pencil is truly the best. The only thing I label with them though are plants in pots. Everything in ground goes label free except our Frankenapples (grafted with different varieties), but even that has gotten out of hand.
ReplyDeleteI don't label shrubs etc. because I usually know what they are. No matter what system(s) you use, you'll end up spending some time on it.
DeletePencil leads come in different levels of hardness. The #2 pencil is most common, but a softer pencil (available at art supply stores) will result in thicker, darker lines. For example, I have a 5B pencil (very soft) that I bought many years ago for a different purpose.
ReplyDeleteIt's really the UV light that's a problem for plastic, for printer ink or toner and for so-called permanent markers. There are also paint markers, made by Sharpie and others, and available in various colors and tip thicknesses, but in my experience they're good if you're writing a whole bunch of labels at one time, but if you expect to use one every couple of days, you won't b able to because they end up drying up. They use oil-based paint so the writing is very long-lasting.
For small potted plants, I write the name on the botton with pencil (clay pots) or permanent marker (plastic pots.)
I must admit, I had no idea that there are so many different types of pencils! Thank you for shedding some light on this.
DeleteI have the same kind of problems with garden labels. Last year I bought wood labels, which hold up well; however, the "permanent" marker faded within a few months ;) I keep a spreadsheet by organized by area but I'm not always good about updating it (especially when it comes to moves, deaths and removals). And the list is now so long that it can be hard to pinpoint plants when I can't recall the genus (which of course accounts for the majority of the plants I can't remember by name). I do admire your photoshop labels and need to look into that.
ReplyDelete