Plant Labels Help Consumers Make the Right Choices

Before you buy a plant, you need to read and understand the information on the plant label. The plant label will tell you the plant's Latin and common name, the plant's mature height, spread and flowering time and life expectancy of the plant. The plant label will also give you the information regarding the soil type needed and the amount of light exposure that the plant will need for optimum growth.

By reading the plant's label, you will know the plant's requirements and save yourself some disappointment, should your newly purchased flower die a month after purchase because it did not receive enough light exposure.

After the name of the plant on the label, you will find how big you can expect the plant to be when it is mature. Plant in a space that will accommodate the plant's mature size, both in height and width. This will prevent you from planting to close to your house or to another tree and having to transplant later, risking the loss of a prized plant.

The flowering time for each variety of plant will differ, the plant label will tell you if the plant will bloom in the spring, summer, fall or if it will bloom throughout the season. Some plants are annuals, their life expectancy is only to live and bloom for that one season in which you plant them. Perennials will come back year after year, and in optimum growing situations, perennials will come back bigger and stronger year after year. Most perennial flowers will produce new root growth, bulbs or even entire new plants that will have to be thinned out in years to come.

The plant label will tell you which type of soil the plant performs best in; acidic, alkaline or neutral. You may have to amend your soil composition before you can grow certain type of plants. The plant label will also let you know if the plant prefers moist, well drained or dry soil. The amenities needed to change your soil's composition to suit a plant's needs in most cases will be readily available right where your purchase your plants at, like bags of potting soil, top soil, compost, sand, etc.