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Top 10 winter bedding plants
Top 10 winter bedding plantsAs summer draws to an end it’s an ideal time to be thinking about winter bedding plants for cheerful colour during the coldest months of the year! Winter bedding plants are biennial or perennial plants which are planted in the autumn, some flowering throughout the winter…
Five tips for planting for pollinators
Important pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths are in declineImage: Marek MierzejewskiBees, butterflies and other pollinators are under threat, so there’s never been a better time for gardeners to help by adding a few plants to support themI love watching the bees in my garden squeezing…
Plants for shade
Brighten up dark corners with shade-loving plantsImage: Elena ElisseevaDoes your garden have a Cinderella spot? A part that doesn’t get the same love and attention as the rest? Chances are, says Mandy Bradshaw of The Chatty Gardener,Sunny borders might seem more interesting and easy to fill, but…
An update from the Greenhouse
Hello everyone!Firstly can I please say a big “Thank you” to everyone who has read my blog and given feedback. I must say I was really worried that no one apart from my mum would read my blog so it’s really nice to hear from everyone.In this month’s blog, I am enclosing some…
Alison Levey
Guest blogger Alison Levey writes about her vegetable eating and growing experiences and the satisfaction of growing sweetcorn from seed…The joy of sweetcornI have to begin this post with a confession, there are far more vegetables I do not like than I actually do. In terms of vegetables it…
Richard Mulcahy
Guest blogger Richard Mulcahy has a shady plot in Co. Antrim and writes here about his allotment and growing early rhubarb.Shady plotsIn the winter months, I get a chance to think and reflect upon my plot. Leaning on the allotment fence today, I thought back two years to when I first got the…
Top 10 new varieties in our autumn catalogue
Here is a selection of our favourite new varieties in the autumn catalogue. We have picked our top 10 just for you.Clematis ‘Picotee Kiss’Clematis ‘Picotee Kiss’Stenocarpus sinuata Trachelospermum asiaticum ‘Variegatum’Cornus ‘Royal Red’Viola ‘Bunny Ears’ Clematis ‘Taiga’The name will…
Summer’s over, what next? Michael Perry asks
I think it has happened.When leaving the house today; the feeling of autumn seemed to have descended. Although bright and sunny, the temperature was cooler and there were misty windows. Darn, I’ll have to start wearing socks again!So what do we do now summer’s ‘over’?In terms of summer…
Evergreen Shrubs
Evergreen shrubs form the backbone of the garden. They provide structure and colour even in the depths of winter when other plants are dormant and bare.Evergreens offer more than just foliage. Many have attractive flowers such as Rhododendron and Camellia. In fact some even flower during the…
How green is your pond?
Ponds are great way to attract wildlife to your garden.Image source: Svetlana FooteA pond will attract a variety of wildlife into the garden such as frogs, damselflies, dragonflies, water boatman and pond skaters. Many different types of birds will visit for a bath and a dip; I even had a…
Top 10 best-selling plants of 2018
This pretty hydrangea won the nation’s hearts and Chelsea’s Plant of the Year 2018Image: Hydrangea ‘Runaway Bride’ by Thompson & MorganAre you looking for some garden inspiration? Or just curious about which plants were gardeners’ favourites last year? Here are our ten best-selling…
Planting Bare Root Peonies
What a lovely day, a day out of the office and back to the Private Estate where I work as a Gardener.I have been here for about fourteen years and have seen the garden develop, hedges have been removed, planting changed, refreshed and new borders developed.It has been an unseasonable day for…
October
Hello everyone,I hope you are all feeling good, and still working hard in the garden. This month has been so mild,it’s been the best year ever for Autumn sowing. Well at least it has for me here in Pembrokeshire. I feel so privileged to spend so many warm dry days pottering in the…
Taking Geranium & Pelargonium Cuttings
There is no particular time of the year for taking cuttings of many of the members of the pelargonium family, because they have no dormancy and grow for twelve months of the year. However, success will depend on being able to supply good light and warm compost. A propagator is a worthwhile…
Geoff shows off his new plants
The summer is racing on at a pace, but the plants still think it’s spring! The garden here at DriftwoodWithout doubt the top 2 so far are the stunning Petunia ‘Night Sky’In the beach garden I planted out the new Pennisetum Blackjack’The bare root Hibiscus…
Dead-head your flowers
This time of year is my favourite in the garden. With the long summer days behind us the light from the sun is not nearly as harsh as it was in June and July. The flowers in the garden are still blooming but with the longer shadows of early evening, it gives them more depth. I wish I could keep…
Climbing Rose Pruning
Hello October.October is my favourite month, as I can do my favourite annual job in the garden.A lot of people seem to be scared of rose pruning, but I actually love it. The more challenging the better.Each year the lovely Rosa “Climbing Shot Silk” gets a tidy up.Shot Silk is a fragrant, repeat…
Hydrangeas – Michael Perry picks his favourites!
Shrubs are the stalwarts of the border- they last for years and years, fill gaps and offer decorative foliage AND flowering! And, what better place to start than HydrangeasThis Hydrangea gives a colour explosion in the garden right from the word go! The foliage is long, elegant and the same colour…
My Top 5 from T&M at Driftwood in 2018
2018 has been our most successful season of all at Driftwood! We celebrated our 10th year of opening the garden and our 7th year of trialling products from Thompson & Morgan. There were a couple of trips to Buckingham Palace too, in recognition for the charity fundraising we have achieved, our…
Customer trial panel member Geoff Stonebanks
In this gardening blog post Geoff Stonebanks writes about his gardening experiences on the south coast of England and becoming a member of Thompson & Morgan’s customer trial panel.I’m Geoff Stonebanks, fast approaching my 60th birthday and retired now with my garden in Sussex for 9 years…
We Love Chillies!
Dearest reader,Harrison (left), William (right).How do you do? Indeed, well…! We are William and Harrison Scowsill, (28, 27). Perhaps like us, you also ogle and dream of acquiring interesting and rare varieties of plantsOur interest in gardening started after returning from a mind-blowing…
Gardening like my mother taught me
From an early age lots of people have influenced my gardening. My grandfathers were both keen gardeners, my neighbours when I was a child and also my mother. I have to clarify this by saying that I think even my mother would admit she was not the world’s keenest gardener, but she likes her garden…
Update from the Greenhouse
Hello Everyone,March winds blow and April showers bring forth slugs eating my flowers! I ignore the greenhouse for one night to discover the next morning that out of eighteen baby leaf lettuces I am left with four. What’s worse, something has also eaten my entire radish, including the roots.…
Thompson & Morgan open garden
I’m getting so excited right now, as it’s almost time to cut the ribbon on our new Thompson & Morgan trials gardenKeen customers of Thompson & Morgan will have noticed that we stopped holding our annual open weekend a few years ago. We became short of space when we built a…
How to Overwinter Geraniums
If you’re planning to over-winter your geraniums & pelargoniumsIf the plants are warm and in good light, they are very likely to continue to grow, and some will even flower, in the winter. So fill all those sunny windows and conservatories with all your members of the pelargonium family!…
Chilli update: Some like it hotter!
Having looked at how to keep your chilli plants cool during summer extremes in my last update, I thought I’d flip the focus this time and look at ways of packing extra heat into your chillies.All chilli varieties fall within their own heat range on the Scoville Heat Scale. If you are new to the…
Preparing for the new gardening season
Today Alan (my Husband) has put my 4 foot portable greenhouse up after being stored away for the past 8 months since it was last used. I also have a 2 foot one which just fits nicely together alongside the 4 foot one, close by the kitchen door and will be erected as the first one fills up. You…
8 gorgeous garden visiting blogs
The winter gardens at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, are just one of the hundreds of gardens to visit in the UKHere’s your chance to take a stroll around some fabulous gardens without leaving the comfort of your home. We’ve scoured the web to come up with some intrepid garden adventurers – bloggers who…
Amanda’s update – March, mowers and sowing seeds
Hello Gardeners,Hope you are all well and making progress in your gardens. I recently remembered an old saying that goes “A dry March and a wet May, fills barns and bays with corn and hay. I don’t know if it’s true but we seem to have a lot of corn sprouting up under our bird…
Rachel Davidson-Foster – a house called “Brambles”
Guest blogger Rachel Davidson-Foster’s post on her ongoing quest for the perfect garden.Was buying a house called “Brambles” an omen?I hope you will forgive me the women’s-magazine cliché that begins my story; 6 years ago I’m pregnant with my second child searching for a new home for the…
The war against weeds – part 2
Perennial weeds are far trickier to deal with than annual weeds. They die back in winter each year before re-emerging the following spring so you need to kill the root in order to kill the plant. Worse still, some weeds such as bindweed can propagate themselves from the tiniest piece of broken…
The Delights of Dahlias
After languishing for a while outside garden fashion, dahlias are suddenly being recognised again for their very many useful attributes. Long in flower (June to early December in a sheltered spot), easy to grow, invaluable in the summer border, a desirable cut flower — the list goes on! They offer…
13 vibrant veg growing blogs
Take some tips from these amazing bloggers about growing veg!Image: shutterstockSay goodbye to tasteless supermarket produce by growing your own delicious nutritious fruit and veggies. To help show you how, we’ve hunted down some of the best vegetable gardening blogs around.It doesn’t matter if…
Cheese, Sage and Onion Savoury Scones
Cheese, Sage and Onion Savoury SconesI realise these scones sound a little odd and festive but they are really tasty! Good for a snack hot with salted butter or instead of a sandwich for a lunchbox – add a little chutney and cheese in-between and it makes lunch a little more…
Capel St Mary Allotments Association – Flower and Produce Show
Last weekend I volunteered to help out at my local Allotment Show, they were a bit short on numbers, so I helped out on the refreshment stall, we all need a cup of tea and piece of cake from time to time.It was a perfect way to have a behind the scenes look at the show.It has given me more ideas of…
Fuchsia FUCHSIABERRY – Part One
About a month ago I was fortunate enough to meet Kris Collins and Micheal Perry to discuss an idea I have about children’s gardening. Shortly before this I had been speaking to Wendie (Marketing Assistant at T&M) who offered me a Fuchsia FUCHSIABERRYIn one of the gardens I work in has a very…
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