[Boomer]

It is the time of year when the Ohio Valley comes to life -- finally. It is the time of year that makes me remember that when I finally do get myself out of here in winter, I must make sure to return by April. And to make my exciting life here at Boomer Base even more exciting, my brand new pair of Felco2 pruners arrived last week.

If you are a gardener (and you probably are or you would not be reading this thread) you know that gardening time is too precious to use cheap tools. And that is why I just spent a chunk of change ($54.95) on my brand new pair of Felco2 pruners.

My first pair of Felco2 pruners is probably at least 15 years old. It seems like somewhere along the line, I was able to replace the blades in those. But this time nobody knew what I was talking about. (That happens to me sometimes.) One person suggested sharpening the blades but said they really were not sure how well that would work. The blades are curved.

I could not find a new pair of Felco2's locally so I bought from Gardener's Supply in VT. I even ordered the little holster. ($11.95) Such excitement.

But even though the new ones are here now, I keep wondering if those blades in the old pair can be sharpened or maybe even replaced, and so I thought somebody out there in TOTVland might know.

About those favorite gardening tools of mine, I usually am armed with only two. The Felco2's, of course, and the other thing is from Smith and Hawken. I have had one of these for years, too. It has a short wooden handle and a thick, broad, tough, serrated blade. I weed with it. I dig holes for planting with it. Heck, I could even chase somebody around with it and scare them a lot.

I think this knife was called the Farmer's knife when I bought it last time. I once bought some of these knives to give as gifts to gardening friends. I did not wrap them. I just tied a pretty bow around the handle. A wicked looking thing with a pretty bow. Kind of an oxymoron I guess. And a good conversation piece when presented.

I looked for this knife in the catalog again lately and found that somewhere along the line its name has been changed. It is now called the "Japanese Hori Hori knife."

Well, I have no idea what "Hori Hori" means, but for my fellow gardeners out there, I highly recommend this thing. It is tough. It lasts forever. And it is the best weeder you will ever have. Hey! Maybe the name means that this thing is so tough that you can Hori Hori through the weeding part of your gardening.

Happy Gardening

Boomer

[juneroses]

Boomer: I understand the bond with your Felco pruners. Several years ago I also treated myself to a pair (after initially walking away due to price shock!). What a great gift!

Frostproof, here in Frostproof, Florida, has replacement parts available for the Felco2. I ordered from them about 7 years ago when I was still an Ohio buckeye and received my order very promptly and well packaged. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again (disclaimer: no connection).

http://www.frostproof.com/catalog/hf-2parts.htm

June

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by juneroses

Boomer: I understand the bond with your Felco pruners. Several years ago I also treated myself to a pair (after initially walking away due to price shock!). What a great gift!

Frostproof, here in Frostproof, Florida, has replacement parts available for the Felco2. I ordered from them about 7 years ago when I was still an Ohio buckeye and received my order very promptly and well packaged. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again (disclaimer: no connection).

http://www.frostproof.com/catalog/hf-2parts.htm

June

Hi Juneroses,

Thank you for the link. Even though I replaced the old pair of Felco2's because I gave up on finding blades and figured sharpening would not work and my Knockout roses were getting away from me, I am going to order these blades for the old pair, now that I know where to find them. I can pretend that Mr. Boomer will use the backup pair, pruning along with me.

But I have to tell you that Mr. Boomer is not into the gardening stuff. If only I could convince him that the Felco2 is a power tool. I do have him convinced that the food processor is a power tool and so he likes to use that, but I don't think I can pull that power tool thing off for the Felco2's.

But I am going to get those blades anyway. You just never know. And if I got another holster, I could have one on each side and look like some kind of gardening Annie Oakley maybe. (Hey! I think Annie Oakley was a Buckeye, too.)

Here is a link to that Hori Hori knife from Smith and Hawken that I paid homage to in my last post. This is the one I like to give as a gift with just a bow around the handle. I have not bought one for a while, but if this one is as sturdy and tough as the one I have, gardeners will love it.

http://outdoor-furniture.smithandhaw...nd&isort=title

Yesterday was glorious here, but today it rained all day. So here I found myself typing away about gardening tools. Can you tell I have Spring Fever? A serious case of it.

Boomer

[JeanneBeannie]

I so enjoy reading your posts Boomer, and so glad to see a Gardening Site. I, like you have spring fever big time! I live on top of a mountain, so eventho we have had a few nice days and I grab my pruners and gloves to go play in the dirt, I get out there and its too windy, which makes the temp drop brrr. I have an English Cottage Garden too! My son and I call it my Secret Garden, where I like to go out to sit and chill after a long day. After reading your posts of the colors you are going to have I thought I would suggest my favorite! You may already know of it, apparently its so popular it sells out very quickly. Its Burgundy Glow Ajuga, its a ground cover that has the most adorable purple, pink and cream colored flowers, all blended together. I was so thrilled when I first bought it, that I went to get more but they were already sold out. I did get an email a few weeks back from Dutch Gardens advertising them in case you want to see a picture of them. I also shop from the Garden Supply Store in VT. I used to live near there about 10 years ago, a very friendly cute store. Happy Gardening!!
Jeanne Beannnie

[Boomer]

This is not really a gardening question like the thread title says, but I am sticking this in here anyway because this thread is sort of like a group of gardeners out to lunch.

Anyway, just now, I was driving home listening to NPR in my car, as usual. Diane Rehm was interviewing an author who was talking about the history of English gardening. The archived link to listen was not up yet or I would have brought it here for you in case you would like to listen, too. I will check later. There were a couple of interruptions today because 'tis the season when the local NPR people must guilt us.

And JeanneBeannie, thanks for the groundcover suggestion. I will look into that one. I am big on groundcover. In fact, I consider investing in groundcover to be part of my retirement planning. I always feel like I am spending my life savings on all-bark mulch, year after year after year, so the more groundcover I can get going now, the less mulch I will need when I am really into my dotage.

Of course, you know how it goes with groundcover, like that thing gardeners always say about it. With groundcover, the first year it sleeps. The second year it creeps. The third year it leaps. The stuff is still worth it though. And sometimes I harvest vinca out of my friends' yards and bring it home. I really like groundcover. Thanks.

Boomer

[Boomer]

--just a little update this morning on the purple stuff. The Walker's Low Nepeta, a.k.a, catmint, has been planted for a couple of weeks. And so far, no cats have shown up. But just now, I saw two gold finches make a visit. Sometimes around these parts, we call them wild canaries. I was happy to see them out there. They sure look pretty next to all that purple. And yesterday, I planted some new coreflowers for them. There are many new hybrids of coneflowers lately. Even green ones. Yesterday, I planted 3 Ruby Giant coneflowers. I hope the gold finches like them, too.

Boomer