My friends ask: ‘why plant markers? you are not a Botanical Garden’.... which brings me to my pet peeve: it drives me crazy to walk through Botanical Gardens and just that one plant I am curious about does not have a tag. Believe me, I flag down a worker and don’t let it go until I get that name!.... sorry for ranting…. back to markers…
Way back when, it was the first thing I did after purchasing a plant, I tossed the plant tags. Nowadays it is just the opposite, no tag, I may not buy, knowing I will spend hours and hours searching to identify the plant.
There are great plant markers available, like this one, except, they are meant for just a handful of plants:
![]() |
clay markers |
then there are those cuties, just write the name of the plant on it. The drawback, they are expensive:
![]() |
expensive ornamental markers |
and the kits with the copper and wire… they look ugly:
![]() |
ugly markers |
So, besides the ones above, my choice for ‘short term’ marking is chop sticks.
I get them free with sushi take out, or one can get them for pennies at the Asian market or the dollar store.
Why short-term, because they rot. fast!
I use them to mark the plants for trading, at plant swaps, certain annuals, and seeds which I will recognize as soon as they sprout:
![]() |
chop stick markers |
But my all time favorite plant marker is the plastic mini blind piece!
I cut it to the length I need to fit all kinds of info on it, like Latin name, date I got it and from whom.
I don’t use Sharpie, since it does fade, but I use a regular school pencil. For re-use, a plain eraser does the trick, getting rid of the words and the dirt :)
the mini blind pieces I push all the way into the ground for long-term marking, and always at the right side at the base of the plant. I will find it again after 10 years, if I have to:
![]() |
my favorite markers |
I've long wanted to make markers using old spoon and those little metal alphabet dies that you tap with a hammer to leave an impression. Meanwhile I'm marking my Pentas cuttings as to color with strips cut from Blue Bunny Ice cream cartons.
ReplyDeleteNell, what a neat idea to use spoons. Especially since one can find them very cheap at flea markets and garage sales.
ReplyDeleteThe Ice Cream carton strips, don't they rot away too fast?