Move over, Martha

Ssssshhh, don't tell Martha Stewart, because this idea is MINE, all MINE! I had to create a system of organizing for reference my plant purchase tags. I had been using the "shoe-box method." Whenever I needed to look something up I dumped a shoebox filled with these tags and poked around until I came up with the right tag. I was doing this with great regularity and annoying myself with the time it took. If I wanted to put in another columbine and couldn't remember what color had bloomed two months ago.........out came the shoebox. If a friend asked for the exact name of the achillea whose color is eye-popping (Pomegranate) ............ the shoe-box shuffle. If I wanted to know why Clematis Angelique wasn't sprawling all OVER my new trelllis.........shoebox dumping again. (OOOooooh, the tag says this dear little angel maxes out at 3-4 feet.) An idea was born. My first step was to find a ring large enough to hold my hundred or so tags, some of which have moved with me two times. Office Supply stores and online sources yielded ZIP. After weeks of searching, Hank entered the challenge and found this 3" ring at a craft store where it was intended to organize cards of embroidery floss. The next step was to punch holes in the tags in preparation for the most fun of all - alphabetizing by Latin name from Achillea to Veronica. I keep a fine-tip black flair near my tag ring so that I can make notes on the back to reference the nursery or where I planted it. Oh, and did I mention that it just happens to slip right down the handle of the wheelbarrow? And in the true spirit of garden sharing, if Martha comes knocking on my door for the copyright, of course I will oblige.