A Nifty Trick for Plant Tags

Have you ever noticed that it’s the little things in life that can drive you crazy when they go wrong? Not the monumental questions that bedevil  humanity, just the ordinary little pieces of a plain old day?

Like, for instance, when the plant tag that you saved so carefully gets lost, buried, or washed away in the fullness of summer when everything in the garden is growing like mad and you can’t even find the darned thing.

Here’s a little trick I came up with last summer.

Punch a hole in the top (a one-hole puncher is easiest here), and open out a paper clip till it’s in the shape of a big elongated S. Fasten one end into the hole you just made (twist it back onto itself, for a strong hold), and the other  onto a rung of the tomato cage, a link on the border fence, a section of the trellis – whatever you have.

Nothing will get that sucker to disappear. Not rambunctious foliage growth, not careless digging, not even curious squirrels. In fact, the tag will still be there next spring, long after the plants have bit the dust.