In message , Phil L
writes
up here in sunny St Helens (Lancs), we haven't had any rain for months - in
fact, I can't remember last time it rained, at least not enough to actually
wet anything.
The result being that the new spring growth seems to be suffering - even the
grass on my lawn is burnt away and yellow, while the soil below is hard and
cracked and I'd lost two shrubs before I realised, one isn't so important
because I've got other specimens of this, but I don't know what it's called,
and the other I'd rather have kept - it's got slender green leaves and puts
on a show about this time of year with firy red growing tips, it also has
bunches of whitish seeds hanging down - whatever it's called, it appears to
have given up the ghost.

The one you've lost might be a Pieris. In March and April this has
sprays of white (or in some cultivars pink) tubular flowers, which might
be mistaken for seeds if you're used to thinking of flowers as being
like those of roses, poppies or mallows. In some cultivars the spring
flush of foliage is a bright red, resulting in cultivar names like
'Mountain Fire', 'Flame of the Forest' and 'Flaming Silver'
(variegated).

While me cakehole's open, what's thos blue small flowers called? - someone
mentioned them as an alternative to lobelia for borders/baskets etc?

A biennial with small blue flowers flowering at this time of year is
Myosotis (Forget-Me-Not). I wouldn't have thought that this was suitable
for a basket - it's shallow rooted, and might be expected to be
vulnerable to underwatering - but perhaps my expectations are in error.

TIA



--
Stewart Robert Hinsley