I hope you are in the mood to add labels to your plants. Do I have labels for you! While laid up with a bum knee, I cut around 500 mini-blind labels. I was surprised by the groans of disgust when I mentioned that the labels I was providing were perhaps coated with grease from hanging in a house for years. So . . . I washed every label with soap and water. You will find these labels will readily accept pencil, china marking pencil, or acrylic pen. Once again, do not use Sharpie pens. They will fade in 6 months. Now if you have a special need for labels with a different length, let me know. For example, I cut labels 2 ½ inches long with a hole in one end for LaVille. She attaches them below an iris flower into which she has introduced pollen from another flower. The label indicates the pollen donator variety on the top and the ovary variety recipient on the bottom. Perhaps one day years from now there will be a new iris hybrid registered that will be named after one of our grandchildren.
Today, LaVille, a neighbor, and I traveled the Pence Gallery Garden Tour. The primped gardens reminded me of the fact that our garden was on the tour last year. That experience had a significant effect on our lives. All of the work we did to prepare for that tour increased our love for our garden and gardening in general. Months of effort created what we think is a beautiful place to visit. Too insure that the garden is maintained, we have altered our travel schedule so that we are home during the hot summer months when plants can take a severe beating and weeds can take over. The front yard has received more attention because we had allowed it to become too naturalized.
Now, believe it or not, I am going to suggest that you consider being on a garden tour of the perennial club. It is a lot of work and can involve a financial investment, and investment is a good word to describe how the result is going to affect your lives for years. You might say that it is too late to change your yard—that you have no time to make any changes in your landscape. And that is exactly my point: creating an enriched environment that you will enjoy the rest of your years is more than enough reason to make that decision for action now. Besides . . . I would like to visit.
Stan, The Blog Man