Great Gifts - Solar Garden Lights

If anyone out there wants to get me something that I'll really love, then please tell them that I simply adore those wonderful solar garden lights. They come in so many fanciful nature designs, everything from dragonflies and flowers to fairies and frogs. Of course the old standard lanterns and globes are also available.

But the best thing about these delightful lights is that they are solar powered. You don't have to run an electrical wire or plug them in. You simply find a sunny spot, stick the stake in the ground and adjust the little solar panel. They come on automatically when it gets dark. They are beautiful and easy to use. These solar lights save money and energy and are a great way to go green.

I want one of each kind. Okay, that's a little greedy. I'll narrow it down to five of the flowers, fairies and animals and three of the globes and abstract designs. Did I mention that most of the nature ones change colors?

I already have one solar light, a beautiful hummingbird that was a gift from a dear friend. It has a small adjustable solar panel mounted on the stake. The solar panel also contains a rechargeable AA battery. When the battery needs changing in a year or so, you simply remove the screws to open the door underneath the solar panel and replace it with a new AA rechargeable battery.

There is also an on/off button on the underside of the solar panel box. When you first use it, you must turn this off for the first 24 hours so the battery can charge. Then you just press the button again and when it's dark, the garden light will begin to rotate through a rainbow of colors.

I have mine in the garden in front of the house to help light the way to the front door, but I want to get a few others to line the path and maybe one of the non-stake statues to put on one of the big rocks that we collected on our vacations.

On this lovely light, the stem lights up in green and the lily flower cycles through the colors of the rainbow.

This looks like one of the dragonflies that a fairy might ride. Dragonflies just look magical. They also add another layer of pest control by eating mosquitoes and other bothersome insects.

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These attractive solar garden lights are charged by the sun during the day and automatically come on at night. The dragonflies can be arranged like flowers. The rechargeable battery is inside the "rock". These would make a wonderful gift for the gardener on your list. There is also a butterfly version of this energy saving light.

I really like these solar lights because they are pretty by day and beautiful by night. This photo was taken in my garden in early spring when the wild violets were blooming.

These solar lights make great accents. Some even have one solar panel, that can be placed in the sun, with 6 lights hooked together and are designed to line a path or to sprinkle in more shady areas.

Often there are six solar lights strung together attached to one solar panel. That way you can place the solar panel in the sun so that the battery will charge completely each day and the lights can be arranged in a shady place, if desired.

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Others, like the fairy and the frog are little statues that light up at night. I have the perfect rock to put the delightful fairy on. Every garden needs a fairy, but the frog is so cute and would look nice by the old iron pump and wash pot fountain. Decisions, decisions!

I really like this delicate little fairy with the sunflower. She would look just lovely perched on a rock in the sun among the flowers in my garden. This statue has a built in solar panel and will glow at night, almost magically.

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Lights in the forms of animals such green frogs look right at home beside my old iron pump and wash pot fountain. They have a built in solar panel, so you should put them up on one of the rocks in the sun.

I hope I see a few of these unique, environmentally friendly gifts under my tree on Christmas or for any special occasion like birthdays or Valentine's Day. (Hint, Hint.) Anyway, these are on my list and I bet that they are on the list of a friend or family member of yours who enjoys gardening and nature.