This might interest a few people: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1000-Silver-PVC-Plastic-String-Jewelry-Price-Tag-Labels-/190557162071?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5e178a57
No more torn and lost tags.
I’ve used such things at work for many years. Usually, they have to be written on with Sharpie pen types. Two issues, that ink washes off in the elements VERY quickly and the tags don’t biodegrade so you have to make sure to pick up any dropped ones and dispose of them properly. The plain old paper and cotton string ones biodegrade and I can be as sloppy and lazy as I wish and not feel too badly about it!
Using the Artline garden markers Paul Barden showed a few years back I can eliminate the fading. The biodegradeable thing is an issue, but so are the other factors around here such as the high rainfall and strong winds that combine to soak and then rip the tags off the strings. I also get a lot of slugs around the end of summer and start of autumn that love to eat my paper string tags. I started putting a cover of waterproof celotape over them and that stopped the slugs but made them heavier resulting in more rip-offs. I’ve ordered a 1000 of these PVC ones to trial them to see if it solves my problems of unknown paternity in my crosses each year. I like to write the crosses and hang them on the plant rather than muck around with different coloured this and thats that I need to record in a book or something… paperwork isn’t my strong point.
Have you also found the snails and slugs like the graphite written side of the paper tag better than the unmarked side? Once I began really using the Sluggo (iron phosphate) bait, that issue was solved. However, the flapping tags seem to draw attention of rodents (squirrels, rats, etc.) so they eat my deliberate hips instead of the selfs. In the old garden, I didn’t lose the tags on the hips and could keep the slugs and snails off them, but the rodents either ate the hips, or stole the tags from the seed planters. As Rosanne Rosannadana used to say, “Ya know, Jane, it’s always SOMETHING!”
Do what works for you-we all have our strong points and sometimes that trumps whether something is environmentally sound or not. Paper work and detective work are neither of my strong points. But placing all plastic items, large and small in recycling bins is one of my strong points. And you know this system works for you minus the slugs. Thank god we are not all one flavor. I always check these little recommendations and sometimes they are my flavor, many times not, but there are enough varied persons here that something is bound to stick to somebody. I often get busy and forget to say thanks to different people for different ideas that work, but this seems to be a good opportunity to say an open ‘thanks’ for recommendations. If they work for you (or me, or somebody else) then they just might be what somebody else needed or already use. Enough philosophizing from me!
The main critter I contend with here is brushtail possums. They once took a heavy toll on the hips around the place until I started planting rugosa roses as ‘sacrificial hips’. They much prefer the bug fat rugosa hips and most of my planned hips are left alone now. I also try to pollinate as high off the ground as I can manage to avoid the more earthly bound critters like the $%#@!! rabbits.
I think I’ll be able to reuse these PVC tags too… A quick wipe down with methylated spirits should remove the writing so they can be used over and over again. Sounds like a good job for my kids to do 
When we pollinate, I assign a specific pollen to a specific color of flagging.
For example:
We used ‘Little Chief’ as a pollen parent, so I assigned it to Red/White Stripe flagging. It doesn’t matter which rose I use as a female. If I’m using ‘Little Chief’ pollen, I wrap the flagging around the peduncle of the flower I just pollinated.
Sorry guys…we use vinyl flagging…not very environmentally friendly…
However, I don’t see why you couldn’t use ‘regular’ ribbon.
Use whatever works for you!!!
I’ll try to get down to the greenhouse today and take a picture so you can see exactly what I’m talking about.
I know the flagging… it’s the same as I used to mark the position of the Elliot traps in the bush when we were surveying small mammal populations on uni ecology field trips. From memory it isn’t UV stable and if we missed some it did break down over time.
As Kim said… there is ALWAYS something. I just posted these for others to checkout if they too are experiencing challenging circumstances with regard to maintaining their records.
Has anyone tried the dumbell shaped jewelry tags? They come in weather-resistant tyvek, and cost less than a penny a pop:
(Note: I haven’t tried yet, and cannot endorse!)
Tyvek should be impervious to weather, sun and slugs/snails. The question is more about having enough space to write on, which may work for some people, not for others. Tyvek is poly based, probably would take some time for it to break down. The design looks really efficient, easy to attach with one hand, and self adhesive! As long as you use #2 pencil.
Of course it can’t be reused, but is small enough that the waste is minimal, and how much room does one need to write? The maternal parent is kinda obvious after all… And most of us refer to our roses with initials…
I’m planning on trying these, but I’m still just working on getting my new garden established (as well as the house itself) so haven’t bothered yet…
If you go to woodlandcreeklabels.com and scroll down to #303, these are working very well for me. I write on them in pencil and attach them with twist ties. And only $5.88 for 250 and totally reuseable. Shipping was very inexpensive as well.
Some of them, for fun, I punched a bigger hole with a hole punch and cut a diagonal little slit from the outside edge to the hole. That way they slip on easily when attaching to a thin stem and no twist-ties needed.
The tags arrived and it appears you can write on them well with ordinary pencil. It doesn’t rub off easily either.
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