Spritzhenry's Outbox

And I wish you hadn't. Sorry.

David - you're right! When I was a child, we went to Scotland on a family holiday - and we picked a bunch of heather for the front of the car! I think it was because we saw lots of other cars with them. :-))

Bamboo - I'm not at all sure that they aren't still - you still see people throw a tiny pinch of salt over their shoulder, and as for ladders in the streets! When did you see anyone walk under one, however awkward it would be to have to get round it?

Horseshoes above doors? Upside down, of course. They may be old, though, I suppose.

You are very trying, as they say, Ian! LOL.

Nope. Too small! :-((((

Your garden looks great - frost or no frost, Angie! Thanks for the tour. There really are signs of autumn when you look for them - I should know! I've been head first bottom up in the border rescuing plants from drowning in poplar leaves this afternoon. (Don't try to picture the scene, though, please! LOL).

Oh, and that Dahlia is a stunner! :-))

Hi - I wrote a blog this week on how to care for Orchids - click on my (dog) picture and then on 'blogs' - you'll find the list of blogs - it's called 'Awkward Orchids'.

This tells you how to get your orchid to flower again. Good luck.

Yes, exactly! SUCH an excellent resource! :-)

Thank you both for writing such lovely comments! I'm glad you enjoyed the blog and hope it is a help to you, Mad.

So far, so good, Docbob! My forte is NOT fuchsias, though.

Thanks, Peter - that's an excellent innovation. It will be every useful! :-)

It's very embarrassing sometimes, if we meet a stranger with one! H. is so strong, too - he almost has me off my feet!

The Chow owner understands and stands still at the side of the lane until we go past - that works.

I don't regret buying mine - they're great! All the cheapo ones turn out to be pretty useless in double-quick time, don't they!

Hmmm..... discounted plants! How good is that?

Henry got attacked some time ago by a German Shepherd, and also by a Chow - he's very nervous of both breeds now. It's a shame, because he is so gentle usually, but passing these dogs on a walk - or if he sees them through the gate, he goes mad!

We've had 54mm in the last two weeks. Not bad - the garden needed it!

No answer - could be, Marie! Just too shy to tell us, maybe. lol.

Do birds like them - or is their colour a clue there?

Ooohhh - Alice! Is your garden c-c-c-cold in the winter? Obviously, some gardens have more shelter than others, but Correas would, sadly, turn up their toes in really cold weather! You'd have to keep it in a pot and over-winter it somewhere if you got consistently low temps - or fleece it really cosily!

Knaturally! ;-)

What! More beds to clear the leaves off? Haha. Nice try.

Not in my garden, unfortunately, Linda! We have three very tall poplar trees at the farm side, and those are the ones that shed leaves onto the shady border. I've been uncovering the poor buried plants, but I shall have to do it again, probably next week. Then the ash trees will start shedding their leaves! It takes me ages to rake leaves up. One big disadvantage of having trees!

Husband helps with the lawn mower once I've raked.