Labels for Garden Plant

"Labeling your plants is one of the mechanical details of gardening that the newcomer undervalues but that the old-timer never neglects." — Kate L. Brewster

Paw-Paw Everlast Label Company

A fantastic company! Their products are excellent quality, and they offer replacement nameplates and wires so you can easily customize your labels. Over the years at Distant Hill, we’ve tried all the different styles they sell and found that labels with a double-wire standard are far superior to any using a single-wire standard. Labels with a single standard tend to rotate in even the slightest breeze.

We have also tried every type of writing tool we could find to create the labels, and have found that the Brother P-Touch labels to last the longest of anything we have used. Many of our P-Touch labels are well over ten years old. Second best for longevity was a tie between a #2 pencil, and the Mechanical Pencil sold by Everlast. 

Our Custom Configured Labels

We use a custom configuration of parts from two different label styles, nameplates from one style, and wires from another. And we find the heavy duty zinc nameplates, and stainless wires are worth the extra cost. 

Replacement Heavy Duty Zinc Nameplates for the M miniature style, measuring 2-1/2" x 7/8". This size is large enough to display both the common and scientific plant names without appearing oversized. By comparison, the larger E, E15, and F style nameplates measure 3-1/2" x 1-1/4", which we find can be too large, and distract from the garden viewing experience. 

Stainless Steel Double-Wire Replacement Wires for the M miniature style are only 5.75" tall, which is too short to stand above most plants in the garden. Instead, we use the taller wire standards designed for the E, and E15 styles. Depending on the plant, we use one of the following stainless wire lengths:

E: Rose Style (11.5" tall) - for most perennials near the front of our beds.

E15: Rose Style (15" tall) - for a few taller perennials and for plants at the rear of beds.