Plant Labels

Keep the Tags with Your Plants for Easy Identification

It’s only when one or more of your precious plants gets sick, or just doesn’t look right. Then, trying to remember the name of it so you can do some research on its preferred conditions is impossible. A plant label printed in indelible ink and stuck down in the soil beside the plant will help to identify it.

Once you really know your plants, especially after propagating them several times, then labeling isn’t as crucial, but just try and remember the names of plants once your collection numbers in the hundreds of plants.

Here’s a few ways of creatively labeling your succulents so you never have to try and identify them.

Make two plastic labels, either purchased or cut from a yogurt container. Using an industrial Sharpie pen, write the full botanical names of your plant, and stick both labels deep into the soil beside the plant. This pretty much ensures that even if a pet or windstorm removes one of the labels, the other one will remain in the soil.

There are commercially available label printers that will give a legible and easy way to label plants, either in the ground or in pots. Some that are common to find, along with the supplies to make the labels are EON Markers, and TZ Label Tape. These make extremely tough and long lasting tags for your plants.

Specially developed aluminum or copper labels are used by botanical gardens and nurseries to label their plants. Usually, the metal is soft enough to hold the indentation of a ball point pen forever. There is no risk of ink fading with this system.

A rounded rock with a smooth surface can be used for labeling succulent plants, especially those in feature beds or xeric display gardens. Use some type of paint, or a permanent marking pen to write the name on the rock. Slabs of slate, tiles or even old broken terracotta plant pot shards can be used this way too. Be sure to check every spring and re-write the lettering as even an industrial type pen can fade.

As a back up system, make a map or a list of all the plants in your collection. Sometimes just seeing the name again can jog your memory. When your collection reaches into the hundreds of different varieties and species, even this method may not be enough.

In my Sedum and succulent nursery when labeling succulent plants I use several of these methods in combination so there is always some way of identifying the plant. You’ll be vindicated when someone asks you the name of the beautiful flower, and you can pull out a tag and tell them.

Lost your plant labels? Find out your succulent plant identification here.

go to Drought Smart Plants home page

Naming of Plants

Succulent Plants