"Helen Deborah Vecht" wrote in message
...
I was given some busy lizzies, which we planted in a large half-barrel
on the patio.

They flowered well all summer, though became somewhat 'leggy' over the
early autumn. They all appear to have jumped out of the pot; the last
jumped out an hour ago, having seemed fine this morning.

Is this phenomenon well-known?

Root rot or vine weevils can cause this. make sure you send the compost from
the pots to green recycling where hopefully they will be composted to a
sufficiently high temperature to kill things. Don't put pot content on to
your own garden or domestic sized compost heap

Gill M