I'm rather taken with Geoffrey, a friendly giraffe used to promote Toys R Us since 1965. I'm even more taken with his bench inside W H Smith in Chippenham. Prior to the chain's sale earlier this year, it was agreed that certain stores would also have a Toys R Us section within them. Geoffrey's bench marks the transition from one of our traditional High Street retailers into something more fun and entertaining, though sadly rather empty when I took this photo. At some point the name W H Smith will morph into its new owner's chosen rebrand name, T G Jones* - rather bland in my opinion which appears to have been made up, unlike the original name which refers to the company's original founder Henry Walton Smith and reaches back to the year 1792. * = it has already in nearby Malmesbury, though they have yet to erase the etched W H Smith from the glass doors. They seem to have retained the corporate blue colour on the shopfront too, for now at least. UPDATE - it tur...
If Bob Flowerdew is going to be there I'd surely ask something about weeing on plants! :)
ReplyDeleteTee hee - I think that's been asked before :) I do have a particular question in mind amongst loads of them floating around in my head. We'll see if I get to ask it...
DeleteBob Flowerdew liked the conversation we were having on Twitter about asking the panel what cake they would choose at an NGS open garden!
DeleteA friend asked me today what shrubs to plant in the shade.
ReplyDeleteI told her Azaleas, Beautyberry, and Sweet Shrub.
Do you have them where you live?
I guess my question would be 'What else grows well in the shade?'
Hi Lea - I'm on alkaline soil, so Azaleas and Beauty Berry (Callicarpa) need to be grown in pots, if at all (which I have done in the past). I hadn't come across sweet shrub (Calycanthus) before. It looks a good candidate for my front side garden :)
DeleteI would like to know when to harvest my Conference pears - all seven of them. I had nine fruits last year but they did a disappearing act when we were on holiday. I would be happy just to be able to taste one of them :)
ReplyDeleteI grow 'Concorde' which has 'Conference' in its parentage Anna. October time is usually good for my pears, but of course it could be different for you as your further north and it's a different variety!
DeleteDid you get to ask your question? And when will be it broadcast??
ReplyDeleteI did Black and Tabby, thanks for asking :) I submitted 3 questions and they selected the 3rd one which popped into my head on the way to the recording. Friday September 30th is the first broadcast with a repeat on the Sunday. There's another blog post to come shortly...
Delete