Sprouting in the Garden

Think of all the times you’ve found nifty plants at nurseries with no label. Is it a blue delphinium or a mauve? An herb or an annual . . . or maybe even a tree? Well, all that’s changing as growers discover that you can package plants just like fine wines. A new generation of labels is not only informative but attractive and, in at least one case, permanent.

Big growers such as Monrovia Nursery are beginning to sell plants in discreetly colored pots that have the company name on them, as if they were designer jeans. Large, new plant tags are useful and descriptive, containing all sorts of information such as where to plant, the plant’s eventual size and color photos of the blooms.

Some of Monrovia’s plants get special labels and are sold as part of a “collection,” such as the Audubon Habitat Collection of bird- and butterfly-attracting plants.

Another grower, Etera, is selling perennials in coconut fiber pots to plant directly in the ground. Etera’s color label is loaded with information, but the company also includes a nifty disintegration-proof aluminum label with the plant’s name embossed on it for the garden.

Its plants are at several Southland nurseries, including Marina del Rey Garden Center, and are available through the mail from this Washington state grower. Call (800) 753-8372 or look on the Web, at https://www.etera.com.

Perhaps the most tasteful packaging I’ve run across is from Log House. Its host plants for butterflies, called the “Butterfly Bed and Breakfast Project,” come with a tall, curlicue copper stake that holds a card with information on a particular butterfly, while a separate plastic label describes the plant.

Unlike most butterfly plants, which are simply nectar sources for the adults, these are intended to be eaten by the caterpillars, although the plants will probably survive the experience and rebound the next year (only to be eaten again).

The plants arrive at the nursery in green-painted wooden flats, decorative enough to be sold separately.

Flats and plants are available at Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach.