By now, new perennials and bulbs have been planted.

Unless you’re looking for spring surprises, you’ve marked where you set them.

Marked? How?

Many householders keep a map of their grounds, showing where flowers, shrubs, fruits and vegetables grow. Since this is for one’s own use, no rules are needed; the chart is their reminder of the whereabouts of specific plants. To go with this, they keep a large envelope nearby to hold tags and order lists of newly-planted bulbs and perennials.

That information is kept indoors, maybe in a desk drawer.

Outside, labels must be permanent and, if possible, firmly set by the new plantings. Kids and four-legged animals may still pull them up. Sometimes labels may be tacked to small stakes.

One may create stakes from slats of a cut-up old Venetian blind or old wooden shingles. Write plant names on them with indelible marker. Waxy china marker won’t last well through a winter. Oddly, using a soft-leaded pencil works well.

A new gardener may think it easy to remember what’s planted, where. It’s better to make a written record of places just planted and keep it in a safe-but-accessible place.

Now, let the rains come and the snows drift cozily over the new planting. When spring comes, refer to your map for what bulbs and flowers were planted in autumn 2014.