Spider wrote:
that. Of course, she still has the option of moving her potted lavenders to
the back garden to experiment on.

Ah, should have thought of that before I potted up the winter cyclamens
and pansies in the same pot!

My advice was aimed at prettying up {new
verb! :~)} her frontage next summer. Since her front door is in the shade,
she could try pots of fuchsia, begonia or impatiens instead, although - with
the exception of a hardy fuchsia - these will need winter protection or
replacing each summer. Any lavender, unfortunately, is going to become
leggy in shade, so that doesn't seem like an option.

That makes sense, I had assumed it was the lack of water (I know
lavender are meant to be drought-resistant, but I do sometimes take
things to an extreme with my neglect!) not the lack of light. I've had
mixed success with the busy lizzies this year, and my begonias were
poor, but I may give it another go next year. All my lovely non-hardy
fuchsias died last winter despite being in the greenhouse. :-