The herbs, apple tree and other deliciousness planted for our tenants are all blooming down at the suntrap garden in West Didsbury, but I think some labelling is the order of the day as not everyone can tell their lemon thyme from their coriander. If you’ve read the blog before I think you’ll know by now that this wouldn’t mean a simple purchase of some white plastic strips, oh no. I spent a couple of hours surfing for some Moregeous markers and hadn’t realised that there was so much choice, contemporary & vintage, timber & metal, muted & neon, something for every garden!
I liked the Homes and Dreams blackboard marker naming the hyacinths above but this was just one of the many I found. Here are just a few others which caught my eye…
A slate or blackboard effect was my first choice, similar to these ones designed to hang above your planting from Hortica:
Or these heart shaped cuties from Velvet Brown if you’re really in love with your planting 😉
These delicate blackboard and white metal labels shouted buy us, buy us, but are shipped from Teaspoon Vintage in Singapore and even I couldn’t justify these as a landlord purchase!
These simple labels which you hand write with a white marker from Sarah Raven would give me space for herb names plus ideas for the tenants of what to eat them with, a definite maybe for practicality with a personal touch:
Or maybe more rounded, like the ones from The Essentials Company:
These engraved pebbles from Alitags looked smoothly tactile, instilling me with a Sunday afternoon urge to jump in the car and head for the beach 🙂
Decisions, decisions!
Not content with just slate and stone, what about ceramic labels, delicate, feminine and long-lasting? These are a press favourite at the moment, made by Northamptonshire ceramicist Charlotte Hupfield:
Although I also liked the pre-printed porcelain labels designed and made by London based Jo Heckett, who has a beautiful web-site, for this particular garden I needed something bigger and bolder.
These ceramic French style labels by Garden Boutique are also very pretty for the right planting:
I looked at some terracotta strips, perfect for potted herbs but would be lost in the garden in question unfortunately. These are made in the UK and available from twine specialists Nutscene.
STILL not satisfied, more browsing led me to these great metallic plant markers, in zinc with a protective glass front from Cornwall based Willow & Stone:
…as well as a more contemporary style in these zinc labels below, described as virtually indestructable by Manufactum, who are committed to products which stand the test of time. But both were still a little on the small side
Or did I want copper, which can either be used with a pencil to indent the thin metal or written on with marker pen in black. Simple but stylish looking, these two styles below are from Plant Me Now. Don’t forget that copper will gradually turn to a verdigris colour when out in the garden and exposed to the weather, unless you varnish it.
Quite the most gorgeous ones seemed to be made by someone called Takit on Etsy but they were all sold out! Maybe he / she will do some more?!
These pastels weren’t really what I was looking for, but beautiful for a pretty window garden. I found them on the Burgon & Ball site….
I wanted something long lasting, sustainable, natural, large enough to be noticeable in a big garden yet still funky …. hang on, what were these on the Burgon and Ball web-site near the pastels? FSC hardwood giant labels…. 30cm high…. even our most short sighted tenant couldn’t miss these! And at £2.50 each – perfect pricing!
Ordered!
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