This Committee makes labels for all the potted plants produced by the FOGS or garden staff, which are sold at the perennial plant sale or in the Shop in the Garden. In the colder months, plan on one session per week for researching plant descriptions. As the plant sale approaches there is considerable time spent printing labels and inserting them into the pots in the works yard.

LABELLING AND PLANT LIST

When considering buying plants at the yearly Perennial Plant Sale, have you ever wondered about the yellow plastic information labels in each pot? Where does the information come from and who puts it there? This is the job of the volunteer  FOG Labellers.

Our work starts in the fall but the busiest season is from February to May. We operate from the Campbell Building and the work-yard. This provides us with some healthy exercise as we walk back and forth between the two locations. Requirements to be a labeller are basic computer skills, some plant knowledge, ability to research and accuracy.

It all begins when plant donations start arriving in the fall and again in the spring. They come from FOGS’ gardens, the Greenhouse Growers, the Seedy Growers, the Back Forty, the Nursery and from the staff in the Botanical Garden itself - no plants are purchased for the Perennial Plant Sale. The donations are dropped off at the work-yard, where groups of Potting-Up FOGS divide them, pot them in fresh soil, and care for them until they are ready to go on sale. Ideally, each donation includes the plant name and the donor name.

It is of great importance that we be given the correct plant name. Even if we recognize a plant, we cannot tell which of many cultivars it may be, or which colour it is. These plants are to be sold from a botanical garden, hence there is an assumption of accuracy. Guessing is not an option and unidentified plants cannot be sold.

The Labellers  have compiled a computerized Database of over 5,000 individual plants which represents those plants we have on hand to sell in a given year, plus all plants ever donated in the past. This Plant List is constantly updated. As each new batch of donations arrives we check to see if they are listed, and if not, it is our job to research information pertaining to description, growing conditions and climatic zones. We work from reference books, the library, and the Internet. For each new plant we distill several paragraphs of relevant material down to the basic information required by a buyer. This information will, at some future date, be printed out onto the yellow plastic labels by a specialized labelling machine.

Starting in February, the Labellers regularly visit the unheated shade houses and cold frames in the work-yard to check on growth as the plants start to emerge. We count the living plants in each flat and enter the total in the computer so that we know we have that particular plant for sale. We then print out the specific labels required, return to the work-yard, locate the appropriate flat and insert the labels in the pots.

As the season progresses, the work load steadily increases as we try to keep pace with all the new plant donations. By April, everything has been moved outside and space is at a premium. Every table is overflowing: plants are stowed under the benches and in the walkways, and agility is definitely an asset as we hop around in the few empty spaces left, peering through masses of greenery trying to find plants which have escaped our notice. We label thousands of plants.

Shortly before the Perennial Plant Sale in May, the Sale Catalogue, listing all available plants, is organized by one of the Labellers and sent to the printers. These catalogues go on sale in the Shop in the Garden, and are a useful means of determining in advance which plants one wishes to purchase.  At this time the Pricers (a different group) go into action and price each plant by means of a colour-coded tag.

The day before the sale the plants are transported to the parking lot and arranged alphabetically on rows of tables.  Finally the great day arrives and all those months of work by countless people culminate in our wonderful Perennial Plant Sale, which is enjoyed by so many. The labellers’ job is done.