Have you acquired some cool new plants this spring and want to label them in your garden? Zinc garden labels are a great way to create professional looking labels that will last through several seasons. These labels are weatherproof and can be marked with the plant name in a number of ways:

• If you have a laser printer you can create labels by printing the plant names on clear address labels and attaching them to the zinc garden markers. You will need Microsoft Access  or equivalent address label software to do this. There are 30 labels on a sheet so you will need to have 30 plant names to enter at a time.
• Handheld personal label makers create excellent one-at-a-time labels. There are several brands of handheld label makers available but we have found that the adhesive on the tapes for the BROTHER brand has the best longevity. We use a black on clear for our labels but other colors are also available.
• You can write on the front face of these labels with any “permanent” marker. There are pencils and pens of various sorts that are advertised as permanent. When using these we always write on the front (which, exposed to the sun, tends to fade over a growing season) AND on the back, which retains its markings since it is protected from the sun’s rays. Last year a customer shared with us some information regarding paint markers. She has been using extra fine point paint markers to write on zinc garden markers to label her plants and says that they work great (http:www.1stopsquare.com/marvy/paintmarkers.html ). She recommends a #140 extra fine in black.