Kincaid Stainless Steel Markers and my Garden

Last 25 of the 100 in the box

 I have a pet peeve,  I hate to wander through some one's garden and not be able to identify a plant. I dislike even more, when the host can't identify the plant either. That is why I do like to go to botanical gardens, usually, most of the plants are identified.So if I like a plant I know what I am looking for and can then go find a nursery to purchase it.

When Wayne and I started to go to day lily members' gardens, each lily was identified. Name of lily, the hybridizer and the year the plant was introduced was on each of the markers. I loved it. I also loved that the markers were sturdy, the tape with which each was marked wasn't effected by the extreme weather we have in MIchigan. So when Wayne and I started introducing natives,day lilies any other ornamental plant, tree or shrub, I tagged it. I wanted anyone walking through the gardens to be able to go home with the common name and Latin name of the plants in our garden. Our first tagging was done with the markers found in nurseries, or hardware stores. We marked each with the pencil provided and we were proud. We did a good job. Then Winter set in and we forgot about the gardens, never giving a second thought to the markers. As Spring approached we anxiously walked through the gardens to see what returned, we noticed the markers were bare. No names, no hybridizers and no Latin name could be found or recognized if there was anything left of the marker. We were furious, all the hours we spent marking the labels for naught! So we asked the gardener's with the nice labels, where they purchased them we were introduced to Kincaid Stainless Steel Markers.

Brother P-touch printer

We also learned one also has to have a Brother P-touch label maker/Printer and lots of cartridges of tape. Back to researching to look up names, hybridizers, in the case of the natives  the common name and the Latin name, again. When it comes to hostas, books, websites and knowing the past president of the Hosta Society helps.

It is well worth all the work when walking in the garden, one can identify each plant in our garden. Last Saturday at the Southern Michigan Day Lily Society banquet, we bought more day lilies and needed to make more labels. So after about two hours of work, I had the 28 new markers finished for the newly bought day lilies and the day lilies planted last fall in the new raised gardens. The  15 " markers come from a made in the USA company, Kincaid Gardens. Gary and Gail Kincaid were gardeners that were looking for a product that would last and started manufacturing their own. Truly many gardeners have benefited from their hard work. Worth every penny!