Tag Archives: garden

Butterfly Gardening

Christmas for Kids: Live Butterfly Garden Review

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In this article, we will take a look at one of the most amazing and inexpensive Christmas Gifts for kids in 2009:  The Live Butterfly Garden.  It quite literally is the gift of life.

One of my kids favorite activities is going to the zoo.  We visit the zoo in our hometown several times a year (which is never enough) and often find the local zoo when we are on our summer holidays.  My daughter loves to see the animals and watch how they live.  Of course, she is always asking for more pets for our house as if she wants to start a veritable zoo in the living room.

While we are unable to accommodate that request, we can come close to bringing a small part of the zoo to our home with the Live Butterfly Garden.  The Live Butterfly Garden has been rated one of the Best Toys for Christmas 2009 but it is much more than that.  When I first saw this advertised, my initial thought was:  “Is this for real?”

The advertisement said that we could raise caterpillars and watch them turn into butterflies.  We could actually watch the metamorphosis live.  I was slightly incredulous:  How do you buy a gift online with live animals inside of it?  How would the animals survive?

Well, the Live Butterfly Garden is designed very cleverly and conducive to the lifecycle of the butterfly.  The four-stage lifecycle of the butterfly begins with the egg which transforms into the Larva (the caterpillar stage), onto the Pupa, and finally into the adult stage of the butterfly.  So, obviously, when you buy this gift online, you cannot receive live Larva because they would not survive.

So, when you purchase the Live Butterfly Garden, you receive all the necessities to raise the caterpillars and watch their metamorphosis into full adult butterflies.  This package includes a transparent, mesh habitat to raise the Larva (caterpillars) and a feeder to keep them healthy and growing.

So where are the actually Larva?  When you purchase the garden, you receive a free mail-in voucher for five butterfly larvae and special food for growth.  When we ordered our package, this worked flawlessly.  We received the food and the growth process began.

My daughter was simply astonished.  It one thing to go to the zoo and see this but another to create and oversee the process on your own.  This is also one of the best teen gift ideas that you may find.  My teen was playing coy (I am too old for this!) but she could not take her eyes off the evolutionary process of the butterfly.

At under $15, this is truly one of the best inexpensive Christmas gifts that you can get for your children.

Find the Live Butterfly Garden on the Christmas Gifts for Kids page at the Christmas Store Online. The author, Richard Mas, is a retail specialist and senior editor at The Christmas Store Online.

Gardening Advice

Is Your Garden Ready for the Year Ahead?

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When spring and summer arrive, for gardening enthusiasts everywhere that means gardens are sprouting greenery and flowers of all kinds. Is your garden ready for the two most fruitful seasons of the year?

If you haven’t already prepared your garden for spring and summer planting, now is the best time. You’ll need a basic set of tools to get started, and you can always expand based on how much you plan to garden and what type of garden you hope to achieve. To begin, every garden needs seeds, soil and plant food; and you’ll initially want to plant the seeds out of the ground – so you’ll need small, aerated planting pots.

When buying seeds, ensure you make your selection based on plants that thrive in spring and summer. After all, there are many plants that are seasonal to winter and autumn – so you’ll want to make sure you’re not planting those seeds just yet. When picking your seeds, you might also want to choose plants that either grow well side by side, or which will give you the look you want in your garden. For instance, you’ll want to veer away from planting – at least within close vicinity of each other – a plant that grows close to the ground, and one that grows up and overtakes the ground quickly. Organising your planting in such a way will help ensure all your plants thrive in your garden this summer.

Another thing to keep in mind with regard to basic planting materials is that not all soil is suitable for new planting. For instance, if the soil in your garden is very course or full of rocks, it might inhibit the seeds from growing – if this is the case, you might need to mix in new, softer soil.

Once you have your basic gardening supplies, you’ll want to invest in a few gardening tools for yourself. Every gardener should have a hat to keep the sun out of their eyes, gloves to protect their hands, and possibly a low stool or bench to sit in while gardening to protect their back. However, if you prefer to get on the ground when gardening, there are also a range of kneeling pads available to protect your knees. You’ll also want a set of basic hand tools like a weeding fork, a cultivator and a trowel.

Finally, once you’ve acquired all the basic tools for gardening, you might want to consider gardening accessories and decorative items – such as mini fountains, bird feeders, tiny statues or labels for each of your plants. Items like these will help you give your garden a unique and personalised touch!

If you haven’t prepared your garden for spring and summer planting, it’s not too late. You can source and buy everything you need quickly and easily – whether you require basic gardening items such as seeds and soils, or decorative and novelty garden accessories.

Victoria Cochrane writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.