One of the best things about gardening is felling warm, moist dirt in your bare hands, but you will often end up with blistered, chapped, and scraped skin.  The solution to this problem is gardening gloves.  The more time you spend getting down and dirty in the garden, the more you need gardening gloves.  Gardening gloves will be able to ease some of the pain you would otherwise be subject to, letting you spend even more time playing in the dirt.

There are hundreds of different types of gloves on the market, and the kind of gardening glove you buy depends on the way you garden.  Some gloves offer protection against specific substances or things, for example, leather gloves are not the best for working with chemicals or water.  Many gardening gloves are specialized for pruning thorns, refilling gasoline tanks, or using a chain saw, while others are for general tasks such as raking, digging, and weeding.

After choosing the type of gardening glove you need, you must make sure and pick out the perfect fit.  Gloves that are too big have a tendency to slip off while gloves that are too small could cause aches and cramps.  Any glove that doesn’t fit could defeat the whole purpose of wearing gloves and cause blistering.  To find a glove with the best fit possible, try the gloves on both hands, make a fist, and imitate the movements you make when gardening.  If there is no pinching or slipping and the glove is comfortable then you have found your match.

Gardening gloves can be bought in many places and are produced by many companies, causing them all to have a different quality and price.  Most gloves can be washed in cool water and then air dried.  There are many different types of gloves you can purchase to satisfy your varying needs, such as cotton and cotton-polyester for general-purpose chores.  These are among the most popular gloves and are perfect for light chores in cool and dry weather.  Leather gloves can also be used for general chores but are heavier than cotton and polyester.  Chemical resistant gloves will help protect your hands against oils, acids, herbicides, pesticides, and many other chemicals.  Grip enhancing gloves are designed with rubber dots for extra gripping power.  Cut and puncture resistant gloves are designed to offer extra protection against sharp edges

If you are the type person that only wears gloves as an optional luxury for various tasks, you should think seriously for using specialized gardening gloves for many of the activities you will be doing outside.  There is really no reason not to wear gardening gloves; they protect your hands from the elements and don’t ever cost all that much.

On a prior post I listed plants that could be used to attract butterflies.  I came upon a better list of plants for attracting butterflies on the San Antonio Botanical Garden site.  So I thought I would share that with you.

Spring Blooming Plants:
       
Hinckley Columbine (Aquilegia hinckleyana)
Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana)
Larkspur (Delphinium sp.)
Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis)
Redbud (Cercis canadensis var. texensis)
Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala)
Texas Betony (Stachys coccinea)    
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Wildflowers: Indian Blanket, Coreopsis, Thistle, Purple Horsemint, Paintbrush, etc.
Angel's Trumpet (Datura sp.)
Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea)
Pentas

 

Summer Blooming Plants:
      
Indigo Spires (Salvia sp.)
Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii)                
Lantana (Lantana sp.)
Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)    
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias curassavica)
Black-eyed Susan 'Goldstrum' (Rudbeckia hirta)
Zinnia Sunflowers (Helianthus sp.)
Pride of Barbados (Poinciana pulcherima)

Fall Blooming Plants:
      
Maximillian Sunflowers (Helianthus maximiliani) 
Gayfeather (Liatris)
Mistflower (Eupatorium sp.)
Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha)
Purple Aster (Aster oblongifolius)    
Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida)
Rosemary (upright or trailing)
Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
Cosmos

 

Larval Food Plants:
Plants that provide food for caterpillars
      
Fennel, Parsley, Dill, Rue (Eastern Black swallowtail)
Passionvine (Gulf Fritillary)   
Hop Tree, Toothache Tree, Rue (Giant Swallowtail)
Pipevine (Pipevine Swallowtail)
Flame Acanthus (Janais Patch)
Butterflyweed/Milkweed Family (Monarch, Queen)
Native Grasses: Sideoats Gramma, Little and Big Bluestem Honeysuckle (Clearwing)   
Hackberry (Snout Butterfly, Hackberry Butterfly)
Oak (Hairstreaks and others)
Willows, Ashes, Cherry (Tiger Swallowtail)
Nettles (Red Admiral)
Senna, Clover, and other legumes (Sleepy Orange)
Mallows (White Checkered Skipper)
Muhly Grass, Indian Grass, Inland Sea Oats Sunflower, Ragweed, Cowpen Daisy (Bordered Patch)
 

If you want to butterfly garden then you need to know what plants attract butterflies.  So here is a list of some of the plants that can be used to attract butterflies.

    Alyssum

    Asters

    Bee balm

    Bush cinquefolia    

    Butterfly bush

    Butterfly plant

    Cosmos

    Dill

    Gaillardia

    Lilac    

    Marigold

    Milkweed

    Ornamental thistles

    Rabbitbrush

    Sunflower

    Sweet pea

    Verbena

    Zinnias

In addition to planting some or all of these plants, consider a butterfly feeder and a butterfly house.

Good luck in attracting hundreds of butterflies.

Photo by Andrej Sevelin

One of the most fascinating and most rewarding hobbies currently drawing in thousands of enthusiasts from all over the world is butterfly gardening. It is a hobby that has the potential to mesmerize both owners and viewers for hours and hours, and it seems that all your worldly cares just melt away when faced with the awesome spectacle of dozens of brilliantly colored winged creatures frolicking about in a garden of your own creation. Butterflies are of course some of the most elegant, the most majestic, and simply the most awe inspiring winged creatures around, and the desire to have them flying around freely outside your own home is what inspires so many people to figure out how to grow butterfly gardens.

Fortunately, as impressive as the final results of your butterfly garden can be, they are not that hard to create. Butterfly gardens can flourish virtually anywhere in the United States, and many of the most necessary plants can be found in abundance throughout the country.

Butterfly gardens also do not have to be expensive at all. They can be as simple as a few choice plants strategically located to attract as many butterflies as possible. Of course if you so wish and you have the land and the money for the plants, your butterfly garden can encompass several acres. The choice is really up to you, and the good thing about it is that no matter how small or how large your butterfly garden is, it will surely be an impressive sight to behold.

Before you start putting together your butterfly garden, it would be helpful to know what the most basic requirements are. These are: abundant sunlight throughout most of the day, plants that are a source of nectar, host plants for the butterfly larvae, a location that is free from pesticides, and finally an in depth knowledge of the most common species of butterfly in your locale.

In terms of plants, your work is cut out for you as most of the plants that will attract butterflies are probably native to your area, and you can easily obtain them from a plant supplier or nursery if you do not already have them in your garden. You may be surprised to find that a good number of the plants that you already have in your yard are capable of attracting scores of butterflies on their own, and that you will only need to purchase one or two select plants or even none at all.

The Internet is a great source of information regarding how to grow butterfly gardens, but do not neglect other sources of information as well. You can probably pick up a lot of helpful tips and tricks from your local zoos, botanical gardens, and maybe even from an established commercial butterfly garden in your area. Butterfly gardening is a hobby that tends to bring out the best in people, and it is almost certain that everyone will only be too happy to help out.