I have to make far nicer and fancier labels for my iris for the regional tour. I have my metal stakes and plates, my label maker, etc. all ready and have done a complete inventory of all my iris and where they are located (i.e. which garden bed or if potted). I have all the names of the irises and who hybridized them.

So now the only thing I have not found an answer for: On the label, for the date, do you use the date the iris was registered, or the date it was introduced? These dates are often not the same year. Is there a standard convention for this?

date of introduction would be my answer

That was what I was thinking, but what if it is registered and never introduced?

Les, ask Lucy.

date of introduction. if not introduced, small r. followed by date.

Wonderful! Thanks so much Lucy!! @irisarian

I put the Iris name, date I acquired it, and who I bought it from. That way when they bloom I discover which nurseries are mislabling. And some nurseries have a big problem with this!

No room on the labels for that without the print getting really small. I already have the NGA plant list and an iris buy list at home to tell me were I got an iris from if it's wrong, and the society is stressing easy to read labels . The tour group will be judging blooms and seedlings, so want to see the name and hybridizer mostly.

My chosen type of metal labels have room for two strips of tape. I put the name on the top strip, and the date acqired and vendor on the bottom strip. It's all very legible, even before I had my cataracts removed.

I am not going that fancy. I just don't have time before the convention for more than iris type, name, hybridizer and date. I was happy with my old labels but the society wanted metal ones.

Keep it simple Les or you will be answering questions allllll day.