The pretty pink gloves are a little more expensive than others on the market but the extra money benefits a worthy cause.

Sequim Rare Plants is encouraging gardeners to support breast cancer research by buying Atlas Nitrile Touch gardening gloves, a line of hand wear that donates 70 cents to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for every pair of gloves sold. Owners Susan and Roger Pierce started selling the gloves last month and will continue until the shipment they ordered is gone.

"The weather has been bad, so not a lot of people have come in (and bought the gloves), but I'm sure we will sell them all soon," said Susan Pierce optimistically. "It's an easy way to support breast cancer research because gardeners go through a lot of gloves in a season, and it's a great gift for a neighbor, friend or relative."

Sequim Rare Plants has been supporting breast cancer research by selling pink goods and donating to the Susan G. Komen foundation for three years.

"A lot of our customers have had cancer and I know I could develop breast cancer someday," Susan Pierce said. "I had a childhood friend who died from breast cancer six months after being diagnosed. She was in her early 20s. That's scary."

Atlas Nitrile Touch gardening gloves are available at independent lawn and garden dealers across the country. The nationwide promotion began January 2008 and continues through June.

Sequim Rare Plants has sizes small, medium and large gloves in stock.

Susan and Roger Pierce bought Sequim Rare Plants 11 years ago. The business, as the name suggests, sells hard to find plants. But the focus has shifted slightly over the past year.

"Because of the big boxes doing such a great job with plants, it's harder to make a living," Susan Pierce admitted. "So, we started mail ordering plants and that's really taken off. In fact, Roger just sent boxes to Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey, New York and Florida today."

The couple grows rare plants in the store's greenhouse at 500 N. Sequim Ave. as well as buying and selling rare plants from around the world.

Mail order favorites include golden pineapple sage and chocolate nodding lilies, flowers that smell like their names.

For more information, call 683-6244 or go online to www.sequimrareplants.com.