The BEST Gardening Gloves

It's time to start your spring gardening and I'd like to share my favorite gardening tool with you. Well, they are not so much a tool like a shovel or clippers but they certainly make gardening an even more pleasant experience...  they are the Atlas Gardening Gloves.

As much as I enjoy working with soil in the garden, I do NOT like the way it looks or feels under my fingernails.  I came across these gloves at a local gardening shop, Apenberry's. At first, I was just drawn to the bright colors they come in: green, pink, purple, and blue (black too).  So I purchased a pair in my favorite shade of Robin's Egg blue and set to work in the garden with them. WOW! They fit really well and stretch easily so that I can accomplish all of my gardening tasks. And you can just throw them in the washing machine when they need a good cleaning. They are quite durable - I have had my current pair for a couple of years now. Did I mention they are inexpensive too? A 4-pack on Amazon is $12.50. I think I paid about $5 for my pair at Apenberry's.

Enjoy!

A Chrysalis Movie

Remember the caterpillar that was hanging upside down in my last posting? The next day I caught him in action...

Chrysalis Patch

Well, I guess I did a good job of protecting those caterpillars during the cold snap a few weeks ago. We found SEVEN chrysalises in and around our milkweed patch last weekend!

And this little guy was getting ready to spin his chrysalis...

Valentine's Day at the Florida Museum of Natural History

I think this might be my version of a perfect Valentine's Day with my husband- an Italian dinner accompanied by live music followed by a moonlit stroll through the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History! This is one of my all time favorite butterfly gardens. They are hosting a special Valentine's Day event that sounds like so much fun. You can make your reservation here. Here's a glimpse of what you will see...

Photo by fuzzcat on Flickr

Photo by greaterrumbrage on Flickr

Photo by spakattacks on Flickr

Overlook Milkweed

We went to Disney last weekend - my husband ran the Disney Marathon and had an awesome run! As we took a walk around the Wilderness Lodge one evening, we came upon this scenic overlook.

As I looked out over the hotel grounds, I noticed some orange flowers right in front of me: milkweed! What a nice surprise!

That's my son enjoying the view too! Have you ever come across milkweed in any unexpected places?

Change & the New Year

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."


My poor blog has been neglected over the past few months and I have missed it! I have been working on a new business with my husband and trying to tend to my garden here and there. Things have finally settled down and I can return to writing here on Milkweed Gardens (I hope!).

I hope the New Year has started off well for you... my milkweed patch is full of caterpillars but there is a cold front approaching. I plan to cover the patch later today to try and protect those caterpillars. They are still young and need another 1-2 weeks to mature. I noticed several tiny eggs under the milkweed leaves as well.

Happy New Year to all of my gardening friends! I hope your garden is full of butterflies!

We like birds too!

We are participating in Audubon's Birding the Net! What a fun game!