What a day! The good and the bad.

The Bay trees are a bit of a worry YDD. I hope you manage to get them sorted. I had a problem with mine after the winter. It is planted in the ground, but appeared to have died so I cut the top dead bit off and now it is sprouting out from everywhere including from the base. So it must be pretty tough.

Lucky you with the plants, and the coleus. I grew some from seed as well, but they are so slow getting going, and so temperamental re the weather.

lucky you some great bargins i like those ! them balloon plants are gorgous never heard of them before might have to look out for them myself they are a lovely flower :)

I am worried Cinderella, I dont know if i should cut it back, cut out even more leaves or carry on with the spraying! Plants eh :)) Ive even scrubbed the Trunk with a scourer and washing up liquid!
The balloon plants are better in real life Whdebor :) I couldn't get the colour with my camera..

right that does it Daisy im on the hunt for some lol

hahaha..

Are they an annual or perinual sorry cant spell it

Label says, May survive in a mild winter! Flowers from may untill late in the year. Not frostproof..

I love the comment 'backbreaking but satisfying' ... know just what you mean! Why not put the Bay Tree problem on as a question? You know how knowledgable folk are on here! Worth a shot . . . .

well it hasnt put me off Daisy i will hopefully be getting some !

Hahaha Shirley, seems like i love Pain the way I wrote it :))
Yeah ill put it up tomorrow as a question, Thanks..
Good Whebor, Good Luck..

YDD your bay has scale insect look at your last picture you will see them (on the back of the leaves) quite difficult to remove, we had it a few years back, you need to use a suitable bug killer, lots of advice on the net.
I bought the Platycodon last year from Morries, waiting to see if it made it through the winter. You got a bargain with the Coleus ours are so slow.

Ydd hope you are able to sort out the problem with the bay Trees, I planted some Coleus 2 weks ago, I was upset at returning from holiday they are all showing signs of distress and die back,not sure what the problem is as other plants in the container are doing really well, just hope they recover, good luck with yours;0)

Thanks for your advice everyone, DD, i now know they are scale insects, ive treated the bays and just hoping it worked, thanks for the advice Avis ill try that, ill try anything! Ive now discovered i have mealy bugs at the bottom of the garden!!! in the ivy and surrounding area, ive never had all these bugs, EVER, im a bit fed up today, pouring down, so can't get into the garden, even the neighbourhood cats have dug holes in my front borders, ive just planted them up yesterday..
PP. I dont know what weather your having, if its unusally cool for you at this time of year, but colius are houseplants, maybe its just not warm enough yet..
PS, loads of greenfly and brownfly to! Sprayed the little bugga's, there deed now lol...

DD got her comment on before me! I guessed what the problem was when I saw the photo of the bugs! They have a waxy coating on their backs which makes it hard to get rid of them as sprays just slide off without affecting them. Often it's a manual job to get rid of them. A systematic spray is what is needed as this enters the plant's sap & is carried around the whole plant thus it reaches these bugs & kills them while they feed!

I hope the treatment for your Bay trees works!

Have you tried making garlic water and feeding it to your plants? You can spray it on your plants also. It's worth a try. Just crush up a garlic bulb or chop it and put it in a gallon container with a little water and a lid on it and leave it for a few days, then fill it up with water. Filter it into a spray bottle or feed your plants with it. It will stink for about an hour but it does work and it's safe for the environment.

Reg; Coleus, when they get gong take cutting from them and start more. They grow roots very easily. You can try in water or in potting mix. At the end of the season put them in a sheltered corner away from with and cold and you might be able to over winter them. Although if in England they might have to go indoors. If you take the flowers off before they go to seed that will prolong the life of the plant also. At end of season when they get leggy take cuttings and start new one for next year.
Oh and they don't like to be over watered.

Good luck.