Hose Couture with Dramm’s ColorStorm Line


Why are most garden hoses so ugly? It’s as though twenty years ago, hose manufacturers decided to pick the most glaringly obvious shade of minty green for all their hoses, and never revisited that decision despite having ample reason to do so. I mean, that hose color is pale enough to show algae stains and mud streaks – yet bright enough to become a major visual element of any garden setting.

Exhibit A: Everyone’s favorite Geranium (‘Rozanne’), flowering merrily away, yet almost upstaged by the very hose that keeps her so happy. Sweet irony.

Geranium 'Rozanne' with Acorus

So when Dramm offered to send one of their ColorStorm hoses my way, and I found out they came in purple, I needed no convincing. Purple! In a hose! SOLD!

I mean, it’s not like we put our hoses away. Even when they’re neatly coiled, they’re still out there as a strong décor element in our landscapes. So why not express yourself and have a little fun by choosing one that fits your style?

If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your flowers. There is no flower color anything like that minty hose-green, so your plants can’t possibly hold their own against such a flagrant visual attack. But imagine the photo above with a nice “berry”-colored hose, and ‘Rozanne’ would once again take center stage, with a nice supportive backdrop of purple goodness.

Amy Stewart and I talked about the colored hoses and sprinklers here (her chickens helped!):

The ColorStorm hoses from Dramm come in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and PURPLE! And they have matching sprayers, watering wands, and some seriously nifty sprinklers as well, so everything can be color-coordinated. The hoses are also good at a variety of temperatures, and can even be used with hot water up to 160F, in case you want to use it to wash your car.

Want to win one? You know the drill. Leave a comment saying which color you’d choose (you don’t have to get purple), and Dramm has kindly offered to send one lucky winner a ColorStorm hose and One-Touch sprayer of their very own. US only. EDIT: Congrats to Dierdre, the lucky winner!

And for a second chance, head on over to Garden Rant, where Amy Stewart’s giving away a set as well. Down with ugly hoses!


115 responses to “Hose Couture with Dramm’s ColorStorm Line”

  1. I would love to win the hose and sprayer in orange in honor of the SF Giants…it will add a nice pop of color in the garden. Thanks!

  2. I would pick red! My mid century “retro” home has all red accents to include the lawn furniture, plant containers and other accessories. This would look great! Thanks for a chance at another giveaway!

  3. Purple! My hose leaks and I have to turn off the water to adjust my poor sprayer that on it’s last legs – Hope it’s me..

  4. Blue! I’d love to get the purple, but my hubby would object 😉 Actually the blue would be perfect with the colors of my house.

  5. Can I mix it up? I’d love a purple hose and an orange sprayer! Can’t ever have enough color in the garden.

  6. I have a terrible, ugly, cracked, too-short green hose at the moment, and my sprayer is not in much better condition. I’d LOVE a Dramm hose and sprayer in red and orange (Is that ok? mixing colors) because those colors really get me going and make me want to spend the extra hour out there giving my garden the love it deserves.

  7. i could totally use a great hose to rock at the community garden plot. Any color would be great but the red one would be my favorite though.

  8. A purple hose will add wonderful color to my garden. Another hose is always useful as I only water by hand.

  9. As a new Master Gardener trying to landscape the yard around our new retirement home, I LOVE the idea of colored hoses to add ‘sparkle’ to the yard! I’d pick ORANGE!

  10. I inherited a mostly lavender garden, but I’m more of an orange kind of gal. Out with the lilac and bluebells, in with the blanket flower and tiger lillies. An orange hose? Does it get any more exciting!

  11. Hey Gen!
    I’m here in Mckinleyville =) I’d love to win the purple one, as purple is my color! Thanks for such a great blog — just checked out your review of the Angela’s Garden goodies, and I think I need one of their hats!
    happy trails, Deb

  12. Since it’s foggy here a lot in the summer, a nice orange hose would look very nice. It would also go with my Carex testacea and Stipa arundinacea, which warm up the summer garden.
    Plus, last night I parked my truck on top of my old, old minty green hose and had two flat spots in it this morning.

  13. Hmm, the front beds are all blue & chartreuse with some orange pops – blue or orange? Blue or orange?

  14. The hose looks great. I’d chose purple, I guess, but any color that doesn’t look like a garter snake would be fine. Thank you!

  15. I always have great fun taking photos of my garden, colorful watering tools would just make it even more fun. Thinking Red would be my choice!

  16. I would love an orange on as I live in Austin, Texas, and orange is a must in this town. Also, quite easy to spot in the year before mowing.

  17. I like the purple, too, but I’d like my husband to occasionally pick up the hose – and purple isn’t really his thing. So…orange! But blue is nice, too. Hmmm.

  18. I would love to win this awesome looking hose! If i win 🙂 i would like to get the color red!

  19. I’d LOVE any color but the purple would be fabulous! Maybe my contractor husband wouldn’t take it!! 🙂

  20. Any color! Any hose! I’m not picky.

    And let me leave you with a childhood rhyme (altered just a bit):

    If Moses supposes his hoses are posies
    And Moses supposes erroneously,
    Then nobody’s hoses are posies or rosies
    As Moses supposes his hoses to be.

    –Yeah, it’s a bit lame, but it’s the best I can do after a full day of work and a bad case of allergic dermatitis.

  21. Blue Dramm hose is right at home in my front garden: purple Dramm hose would be right at home in my backyard garden (with a orange sprayer-can’t lose that in the grass!).

  22. My husband and I graduated from a condo to a town home back in December, and we have yet to get a garden hose! I think it’s time to graduate from galvanized watering cans. I’ve always been a purple girl.

  23. Blue would be be just lovely! What a fun idea. I saw matching bright colored trellises at the nursery yesterday.

  24. I’m with Blair who asked if we could mix the colors up. The purple hose is lovely, but an orange sprayer would make me very happy! (If no mixing is allowed, I’ll take orange in both.) Thanks!

  25. And they don’t know why more of us 30 somethings don’t garden!! I’d adore a purple hose and since I water by hand it would help a great deal! I think it would just make me happy to look at it!! Thanks!

  26. My late beloved pale green hose came from K-Mart. I was pondering which to buy, and a fellow shopper convinced me by exclaiming, “But it’s Martha!” Martha Stewart trumps.

  27. Ohhh, I like them all – blue matches my new old chairs though. Thanks for the giveaway!

  28. I love my DRAMM sprayer! This would be a festive – and hardy – complement! Probably in PURPLE!

  29. Oh my GOSH-please take me from DRAB to DRAMM!!!! I would adore the purple, it would tie in with my hanging baskets with purple wave petunias and yellow pansies Kinda Regal AND Playful Jester and Queen if you will.

  30. I would love to be able to color code my hoses! I think I would go with orange for the backyard–we would never run over a hose with the lawnmower again!

  31. A blue hose would be great. It would contrast with the yellow of the house, and make me think it was a bit cooler than the 105 degrees it is currently outside, in Phoenix.

  32. Start *wearing* purple, as well as using it!
    Save for one, our entire tribal-style bellydance troupe adores purple, in any shade. Start Wearing Purple, by a heavily accented Gogal Bordello, is a song we dance to often. Four of his versions on YouTube–give a sample a listen.

  33. I love the orange one! Perhaps it’s brightness will remind me not to leave it out over the winter only to be ruined by the elements. Or, was that because I was 8 months pregnant and couldn’t muster the energy to bend down to pick up the old black one?

  34. Perfect timing, I was just online today looking at watering wands AND hoses… would LOVE the blue set!! Thank you!

  35. Oh, that red or orange is calling my name. Probably the red, as my house is grey…great complement! Thank you!

  36. If I had a purple hose, Maybe the guys at work would be less inclined to walk off with it… love purple!

  37. Columbine nods head
    Demure greeting to new sight
    Berry-tinged Dramm hose

  38. I would love to have a purple hose! It would go with the accent color on our house!!

  39. This is a very difficult choice. Blue, I just saw my first blueberry turn today.Hubby says green. Red to match the bee balm. But the yellow is so cheery. Orange would be good in the fall. Purple it is!

  40. I would LOVE a yellow one – it would look fantastic down among the veggies in my allotment plot!

  41. so many beautiful colors. However, yellow is bright – and will be visible enough not to be run over by the mower. Not that we are ever that careless.

  42. Purple all the way! I just painted a cafe set in my garden purple and it’s fabulous. I clearly need more purple in the garden. Thanks for the giveaway!

  43. Ooo, I would love to have a Purple one! or a bright Yellow one! I wouldn’t be picky though since my hoses are so leaky that I put part of it down in a 5 gal bucket while I’m watering my plants and then use the bucket of water to take to my chickens, better than wasting it huh. 🙂

  44. Thinking I could use an orange hose to replace the hand-me-down hoses inherited with the house purchase, seeing as how they are a kinky, leaky mess…

  45. Pick me! Pick me! I’d love a blue hose & sprayer. Easier to keep track of in my gardens & more cheerful than the sort-of-drab green I currently use. And isn’t blue the most appropriate for watering chores ?

  46. I think I’d choose Orange. I have a teenager who helps with yardwork, and maybe the orange would serve as a “caution, do not run over this with the mower!”

  47. I love the orange and yellow ones — a great way for hoses to protect themselves (from weed wackers and mowers) in my dangerous yard.

  48. No way! I don’t care how good you make that hose look, I am not changing now! I absolutely love the Tuff-Gaurd hose you promoted a couple months ago. :^)

  49. Berry purple of course. will match my purple painted old metal ice cream shop chairs

  50. Is it too late?! I love the purple, but blue or yellow or red would be…well, anything but green if you know what I mean. Just seeing a different color would be a pleasant little jolt every time I saw it. Wow, a hose of a different color!
    Carolyn, another northcoast gardener

  51. That’s great! It’s true that this minty green color is awful, and it doesn’t blend naturally in the garden at all! I would love a purple one too 🙂 I’ll consider ordering one!
    Thank you !

  52. I’d love any of the colors! I need some new hoses, and these would be MUCH appreciated! My gardens are dry this year in South Dakota!