" What is the name of this plant?"

It's aggravating to spend hundreds of dollars on plants, only to forget their names later on in the year. It's also embarrassing as friends come over and walk the gardens and ask, "What's the name of this plant?" and I have to answer, "I don't know."

The solution is to use plant labels most of the time. These can be the inexpensive plastic ones you can find at most garden stores or the more expensive metal labels.

One of the problems with the labels is that if you write on a label with a standard marker or even one of the so-called "permanent" markers, the printing doesn't last. Here are a couple of solutions.

For the plastic labels, buy what is called a "Nursery Pen." It's a basic black marker with special inks to help it resist fading.
It does a fair job, especially on the white plastic stakes. If you Search for 'Stakes' on the same site you'll also find many different types of plant stakes and labels.The Park Seed Company has one for sale. Their website is http://www.parkseed.com Search for 'Marker.'

Unfortunately, the small white stakes also have a tendency to break, so I use them only for starting seeds inside.

A more expensive, but permanent option is to buy the large metal stakes and labels. The best source I've found is Eon Industries. They have many types of metal stakes and labels.
I use the "E" type, 15". You can buy 100 for $30 + shipping.
They also sell various pens for marking the labels. Their website is ... http://www.eonindustries.com/products.html

One low cost and low-tech method of marking the label is the common #2 pencil. It seems to work as well or better as just about any method and has the added benefit of being low cost. I actually prefer a dull pencil to put more lead on the label. One "test" label using just a #2 pencil still looks fine after three full years, while the "Nursery - black permanent" pen has faded. See the picture below.
You can also use the Uni-Paint or China pen, but I still prefer the finer tip of the pencil.

Also, write on the back part of the plate as this may still be visibile if the front side has faded.