Letter: Delicate blooms

Delicate blooms

Sir: I am beginning to suspect that your gardening correspondent is a couple of panes short of a cloche. Her suggestions for "gifts for green- fingered friends" (12 December) comprised in their entirety: pashmina shawls at pounds 195 each; garden pots(pounds 170 to pounds 430); terracotta pots suitable for decoration only since they have narrow necks and do not withstand frost (pounds 85); herb collections in a basket (pounds 30); sets of bath oil, soap etc (pounds 24.95); young trees (unpriced). I shall looking around my local allotments in the new year for anyone sporting a snazzy shawl.

PETER POOL

Shipley, West Yorkshire