Tag Archives: gardening

Ye Olde Garden

Hose Reel Repair

I finally got around to repairing my Eley Hose Reel. I purchased the Eley Portable Garden Hose Reel Cart back in 2020 after I got weary of storing my garden hoses and needed a better way to keep them stashed. The previous cheap “plastic” storage reel kept leaking and proved hard to roll up with each passing year.

Apparently a common point of failure on the original Eley hose reels was the brass swivel. Extreme cold temperatures would cause the fittings to expand and contract, which basically caused leaks starting in 2022. The fitting finally broke off in 2023, which rendered the reel rather useless. I was able to troubleshoot my swivel issues and determined that it had been subjected to that expansion, whereby the swivel fittings had broken loose.

The new brass swivel took about 15 minutes to install; instructions on how to replace the part were clearly printed on the box. A YouTube video also helped clarify the replacement process. Once I swapped out the parts, the swivel worked perfectly with no leaks and I was back in business again.

Instructions on the box, the old swivel
Some disassembly required
The new swivel
Repair complete!
Instructions on the box, the old swivel
Some disassembly required
The new swivel
Repair complete!
Ye Olde Garden

End of March Garden Scenes

Progress pictures on the late winter, early spring garden.

Take a look closer and one can see the seedlings starting to pop!

Lest we forget, the narcissus and tulip show ramping up for April blooms.

Ye Olde Garden

Cuttings and Seeds Spring Edition

It’s been a busy week sowing seeds and taking cuttings, not to mention putting new plants into the ground and all around maintenance. Weather has been mild enough to promote outdoor yardwork. Hey, it’s spring!

Potted lavender needed haircuts, so the White Anouk and Lavender Lady got pruned down to the base. I kept some Anouk cuttings to see if I could get them to root.

Other cuttings include silver thyme, golden sage, variegated berggarten sage, and catnip. I sheared half the catnip bush sitting in the Rogue Bed to give the Silver Fountain gaura some room, plus propagate more plants for the catkids, who are delighting and rolling in all the pots that house them. This particular catnip has a very lemony fresh scent, one that I hope to make more child plants out of.

As for seeds, I’ve indoor sowed mirabilis jalapa, Thai long green eggplant, lemon bee balm, Korean hyssop and Sirius blue sage. I’m also giving the habaneros another go, and started some Fish Pepper as well. I hope that starting in soilless sterile mix plus 80F+ temperatures will produce better germination rates in the habanero peppers. My previous success with ornamental peppers did not prepare me for the stubborn nature of the spicy hot ones.

For outdoor sowing, I decided to chance the mild weather and broadcast flower seeds directly into the flower beds: lemon bee balm, marigolds, cosmos and zinnias. The majority of these were from my stash of Botanical Interests seed packets that I received earlier in the month.

Ye Olde Garden

Will It Live: Fern Edition

I’ve been fretting about the ferns in the shade bed. Since nearly everything but the ferns and hostas have emerged, I’m getting a little anxious to see if they made it through the freeze.

The ferns in question are of three varieties: two specimens of Japanese painted fern, Anisocampium niponicum, and two specimens of Silver Brake ferns, Pteris argyraea (?), and a clover fern, Marsilea macropoda,

The marsilea overwintered in the garage, but perished when I moved it inside in March. But I had already anticipated getting another specimen from Painted Flower Farm.

Clover fern in the garage bottom styrofoam container

The Silver Brake ferns were marked for zone 9 hardiness according to the Lowes plant tag, so they could have been misidentified/mislabeled. Instead of Pteris quadriaurita argyraea, these may actually be Pteris cretica, at least based on the image lookups I’ve performed. Regardless, I didn’t expect them to resurrect. But I potted up the rootballs anyway to make room for an assortment of new plants.

Ejected the silver brakes from the shade bed

The Japanese painted ferns were giving me the itch to go buy new ones. But I waited them out.

First sign of Japanese painted fern
Ye Olde Garden

Direct Sow

I’m always hesitant to broadcast seeds directly into the garden because of the risk of poor germination rates. Granted, previous experience had me neglect seeds sown directly into the beds, which need the right temperature and moisture to thrive. Daytime highs are in the upper 60s while nighttime lows in the high 40s and low 50s. It’s still too cold for some delicate summer plants to tolerate, as some of the starts are beginning to show.

I hedge my bets wherever I can, sowing indoors those seeds that I trust will germinate successfully and can handle transplant.

Seeds I’ve sown and re-sown both inside and out:

Agastache rugosa, Korean Hyssop
Salvia coccinea, Scarlet Sage
Salvia farinacea, Sirius Blue Sage
Monarda citriodora, Lemon Bee Balm
Gomphrena haagena, Strawberry Fields
Tropaeolum minus Nasturtium Black Velvet (presoaked)
Nigella damascena, Miss Jekyll Blend
Zinnia elegans, Fireball Blend
Cosmos sulphureus, Diablo
Tropaeolum majus Nasturtium Alaska Variegated, Jewel Blend (presoaked)
Tithonia Speciosa Mexican Sunflower Red Torch (2017 seed)
Mirabilis jalapa, Marbles Yellow-Red (presoaked)
Tagetes tenuifolia Lemon & Tangerine Gems Signet Marigold

The last vegetable seeds I direct sowed beginning of March were the bok choy Tiny Hedou and Purple Lady, along with bunching onions Tokyo White. They are finally beginning to emerge. Meanwhile I’m giving the Thai Long Green Eggplant another try although I haven’t had any success with the last batch.