Stainless markers.

Indestructible and permanent.

You can order by snail mail and have them in a week for the cost of a hamburger and fries at McDonald's.

To each his own. I hope you find something that is acceptable and affordable for you. There are many options out there. I am sure others will chime in with their favorites.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Kincaid Markers

I'll second Kincaid... if you order in bulk it'll be a lot cheaper. A 100 of them would be around $1.10 each shipping included. I've used other ones that are slightly cheaper and tossed them out. I also use the Brothers P-touch lable maker. Don't purchase this in the Big box stores, purchase it on Ebay. I received mine new and was half the cost of Office Max.

Here's a photo of my lables:

You've convinced me on the stainless steel stakes for my trees. I'm a firm believer in that you generally get what you pay for.
On the labelmaker, it there something special about it's qualities as I have another brand that I started using on my zinc stakes last year.

Do you have a Laser Jet printer?

Dave

No I don't. Is that something that you use?

See the link below for what I use... It's $31 bucks... I believe I found mine new for about $20 from a different seller last year though. It prints between laminated tape which makes it water resistant. If your other brand is working, I would say stick with that as long as it lists it as being used for outdoors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brothers

It's a personal preference thing. If you are planning a large garden with lots of plants do your home work. Shop around and make sure you have made the right decision for labels. You don't want to change in the middle of the stream.

I use a HP Laser Jet printer. Prints on Avery Easy Peel clear address labels. 30 labels... 1" x 2 5/8 per sheet. I key the names in on Microsoft Word. It prints them off in seconds. Once applied on tag they never discolor or deteriorate. You must use a Laser Jet printer.

Since you don't have a Laser Jet then give careful consideration to the Brothers. They work very well inside. I am not familiar with their ability to with stand the outside elements. rick?

Dave

I use a Brother labeler with one inch wide labels - both black background with white letters and clear background and black letters. Three years = no fading or discoloration. Using the Kincaid ss markers. I thought about laser jet labels, but experienced some difficulties out at the arboretum with these - sometimes the text slid off the Avery clear labels.

Marshall

They have been on my SS tags for about a year now with no problems. They make different tapes for this unit, the TZ tape is labled as cold/hot, water, uv resistant for outdoor use. I like that it prints under the protective laminate instead of on top. I think Ken or someone on here told me last year that they have been using it for years without any problem, thats why I went with brothers.

Another vote for the kincaid markers. Now they are selling 6-inch(refering to the stands). Great plant labels/markers.

-Will

Thank you to everyone that helped by sharing their own preferences and experiences. I really want all my trees and important plants (mainly 150+ hosta varieties) accurately named and tagged. I am ordering Kincaid's stakes and a printer today.
This is such an incredibly expensive time of the year for me!