Succulents and More™

A couple of months ago, I showed you the plant labels I’m currently using ( see here ). Seeing how I have a few thousand of these labels and they work great, I will continue to use them, especially for potted plants. But I’ve started to trial larger tags — stakes, really — for in-ground use: For me, these stakes have several benefits: They are very sturdy so they shouldn’t disintegrate as quickly as the thinner (and smaller) labels I’ve been using. They are larger so there’s room for more information, if needed. Plus, I’m hoping they’re too large for squirrels to haul away. Since they’re black, they don’t stand out like white labels do. You can’t really use a pencil to write on these stakes. The ones I bought on Amazon ( here ) come with a white marker pen, but the tip isn’t fine enough. I bought these marker pens instead. They’re filled with oil-based paint that doesn’t wash off and have what’s billed as an “extra fine” tip. The pens I’m using Here are my first attempts: I submerged...

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: 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. 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. 4" Forain...