Finding the ultimate gardening glove is a lot like searching for the perfect perennial: One that looks good, is gentle on the budget, lasts all season, then comes back the next year.

        Add to that a skin protection factor and good fit, and even Johnny Appleseed would go away whistling after slipping on the right pair.

The Tool Grip from Delhi Flower & Garden, $6.99

        Until a few years ago, we settled for either the wimpy cotton gloves with a ladylike print or sturdier work gloves in Papa Bear sizes. Keeping hands dry with the former or plucking a stray weed with the latter were thorny issues.

        Other options were rubber gloves that made your hands sweat — but kept them relatively dry — or leather and suede that protected your hands but were ruined in the first soaking.

        Enter the Tool Grip and the Mud Glove. Both are made of a breathable cotton knit with a snug cuff to keep out the dirt. They are dipped in rubber up to the top of the hand and dried in the curved shape of the fingers for flexibility.

        Tools and clippers don't slip. You can pinch weeds and stones. There are no exposed seams to split, and fingers stay clean and cool because of the knit. Hands stay dry and, best of all, they are cheap, about $7-$10, and can be tossed in the washing machine and air-dried.

        “All our landscapers use these,” says Tim Young of the green and yellow Tool Grip brand. He's a landscape designer at Delhi Flower and Garden and chief of the crew that put together this year's award-winning garden based on Harry Potter books at the Cincinnati Flower Show. “They let your hands breathe, and they feel good against your skin.”

Midwest with pink rubber latex palm, $5.99 at Frank's

        James “Woody” Woods of Bloomin' Garden Centre on Kenwood Road in Blue Ash likes Tool Grip because of the fit. “I don't like it when the gloves are too tight. These have a good grip and are easy to get on and off.”

        The newer Mud Glove, which comes dipped in candy colors, is the favorite of Margaret Clawson, owner of the Garden Gate in Lebanon. “I'm always re-ordering because they are so popular,” she says.

        This year, garden stores started carrying a variation on a theme in ultra-light nylon knit gloves dipped in polyurethane ($10.99) that may be even cooler on busy hands during humid weather. And many imitators are turning up, with textured rubber and a thicker coating.

        Rose king Dr. John Pottschmidt of Delhi Township picks a glove of a different color — and fabric — for his many hours under the sun.

        “I usually pick up whatever is lying around the house, but I do like that gauntlet glove at Smith & Hawken ($42),” he says. He likes the medium-weight goatskin, offering an extra several inches of protection to the lower arm — a definite plus when tangled up in thorny arms of a rose bush.
       

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