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Plug plants – which size is best for you?
Plug plants – which size is best for you?It’s all-go in the garden now that the sun has finally decided to make an appearance, but knowing which plug plants to buy can be a bit confusing. They all need different levels of care and, if you’re not sure what you’re buying, you…
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…
Companion planting
Companion planting has been around for a long time and is a really good way of using Mother Nature to deter pests and improve pollination.MonocultureWe’ve put together a Companion Planting GuideThe guide, written by our horticultural experts, is full of great advice when it comes to growing…
Top 5 Hanging Basket Plants
Now winter is well and truly here it’s hard to imagine what you would like to put into your springtime hanging baskets. So here are 5 of our favourites to help remind you of the wonderful springtime that is coming soon.Fuchsia ‘Swingtime’Once the last winter frost has gone you can set about…
Customer trial panel member profile – Joy Gough
Joy Gough has just joined our blogging team of customer trial members and talks about her gardening experiences.Joy GoughMy name is Joy, I am totally new to this blogging, so please bear with me, just like gardening it is a process of learning as you go.Our garden started with 2 bought tomato…
The Rough Guide to Beans by Real Men Sow
The Rough Guide to BeansAre you an allotment beginner, getting ready for your first season as a veg grower?Well, let me recommend starting with beans. Beans were the biggest success of my first season, and I’ve loved growing them ever since.They’re easy to grow, very healthy and one of the most…
4 steps to successful vegetable gardening in containers
No garden? No allotment? No problem. You can grow plenty of vegetable varieties in containers. Follow our 4 steps to successful vegetable gardening in containers.As our so-called spring gets under way, we’re noticing that one of this season’s hot trends is growing vegetables in containers. Like…
Fifty shades of green
Couldn’t get tickets for the opening weekend of Fifty Shades of Grey? Get out in the garden instead; try our Fifty Shades of Green this season!We now offer a range of over 300 mature shrubs and perennials for instant impact in your garden. No garden should be without hassle-free herbaceous…
Potatoes – does size matter?
If you have grown potatoes before you will know the feeling of disappointment when you harvest your potatoes and what you have in front of you is a poor specimen of potato.Why not switch to planting one tuber per 8 litre potato growing bagThe method, hit upon during technical trials at our HQ,…
What’s new at Thompson & Morgan?
Here at Thompson & MorganQuality control is better than ever this year. We have appointed Peter as our Quality control Manager and plants are being triple checked before they are posted to you in our new and improved packaging. So, what do we look for?1. Size2. Healthy foliage3. Strong root…
Top 10 best-selling plants of 2012
This list of Thompson & Morgan’s top 10 best-selling plants is quite a mix – from cottage garden favourites to new and unusual flowers – and shows that customers really do like variety when it comes to their gardens!Apple Cox’s Orange Pippin1. Apple Cox’s Orange…
Ho ho sow
In ‘Ho ho sow’, Jane Scorer shares some great ideas for Christmas gifts.Are you in the midst of your Christmas shopping? If you are, then I bet you can feel an oppressive weight on your shoulders, that burden of what to buy for people this year. What do you buy for the ones who have…
All’s growing well in the garden
By the end of May, all the bedding plants were put in the borders and watered in for a few nights. Last weekend after some heavy rain I went around them all with a small 2 pronged claw and loosened the soil. This will let air in around the roots and create dry soil mulch, trapping some of the…
Top 10 Fuchsia Plants
Fuchsias are extremely versatile with a variety on the market suitable for most situations. Few other plants perform so well in the garden with so little upkeep, even the tender types can make it through winter with minimal protection. Fuchsia plants are easy to grow, long-lasting and make the…
Bare roots plants and how to receive them!
A bare rootBare roots are sold with roots exposed, and not planted in a pot. Unfortunately not all plants can be sold this way, as they do not go into dormancy (e.g. evergreensIt is important to keep bare roots moist during their dormancy, especially as they are exposed. This is why they will be…
Gardening news – grass-free lawn, coronation meadows
Read this week’s snippets of recent gardening news stories here…Coronation meadowsCoronation Meadows InitiativeTo celebrate the 60th anniversary of the coronation, HRH Prince of Wales has set up the Coronation Meadows Initiative to create or restore 60 meadows throughout the UK, with…
Sowing Sweet Peas
Whilst relaxing with a book I studied my garden, my book was slowly losing its appeal! I realised how bare my garden not only looked, but felt. It is strange to say that your garden has a feeling, but it certainly does. My garden didn’t encourage growth, innovation or adventure but plain,…
Revamped Front Garden
Early December: At last work has started on the front garden. We had planned to complete it in November but now we are aiming for mid-December so that we can get the exterior festive lighting installed for Christmas. Combining hard landscaping for car parking with an environmentally friendly green…
2-in-1 Cropping Vegetables
Whichever way you look at it, our new vegetable plant creations make sense! Space-saving, double-cropping, fun for kids, easy for beginners, and not to mention tasty and flavoursome…Let’s look at the story of the dual cropping vegetables!First we launched the TomTato®It wasn’t until a few…
Drought-proofing my garden
The recent dry spell has really made me think about the plants I am growing. The drought has taken its toll on a favourite tree in my garden. In truth, it has been many years since it performed at its best. This year, I’ll be lucky if there are any leaves left come autumn! I’m blaming my thin,…
Trailing Fuchsias
Trailing fuchsiasSome forms can produce colossal blooms reaching up to 10cm (4”) across eg Giants CollectionFuchsias are superb value too, flowering over a long period from early summer right through to September.Growing trailing fuchsias really couldn’t be easier. Plant trailing fuchsias directly…
Top 10 perennial plants
Top 10 Perennial PlantsPerennial flowers add colour and seasonal interest to the garden from April to November, often attracting bees and butterflies to their blooms, and making great cut flowers too. They are incredibly versatile and can be used as fillers between shrubs, planted as groundcover…
Evergreen shrubs
Evergreen shrubs provide permanent structure in the garden and all-year-round interest. Some have beautiful flower displays or are highly scented in winter when little else is growing, and some have variegated or colourful foliage which is a perfect foil for summer perennials and a feature in…
Petunias – customer trial panel update
I love petunias but with last year’s awful weather I was reluctant to grow them this year – I did not want to have another year of soggy flowers.As usual when the T&M plants catalogue came in spring there were so many new and unusual petunias I just could not resist giving them…
The A-Z of Fun Activities for children
With the summer holidays about to start, it’s not always easy to get children away from their toys and out into the fresh air. However, inspired by the youngsters in our family, here is the A-Z of things to do right now!A – Acting a play. Let their imagination run wild, will they be…
A Small Gardening Space
After living without any outdoor space of my own for 5 years, last year we moved and I gained an empty balcony. A blank canvas. When you live without any outdoor gardening space you realise just how much you previously took it for granted. I had never been a gardener, despite my mother avidly…
Thompson & Morgan names exclusive tomato mix its ‘Veg of the Year’
Tomato Rainbow Blend – Vegetable of the Year 2013Tomato Rainbow Blend – a stunning blend of ‘baby plum’ tomatoes in yellow, orange and red – plus a rare and unusual pink.Tomatoes are Thompson & Morgan’s No. 1 selling vegetable and the company offers an incredibly wide range of…
Chillies on the go
The trick to success with chilli sowing is to keep it simple. I’ve tried all sorts of sowing methods, from expanding coir pellets and thermostatic controlled propagators to expensive home hydroponic systems – but what method has given me quick high-yielding results this season?Answer: Good quality…
Watering plants during summer
So, judging by the weather it looks like I jinxed it when I shouted summer is here, it has lasted all of a week! The occasional down pour is actually quite important for plants. The rain will encourage leafy growth, meaning you get even bushier plants, with the potential for more blooms! As long…
Tomato ‘Sungold’ goes way beyond expectations
Thompson & MorganEvery spring time since 1996 Mrs Raisborough has sown one packet of the Tomato ‘Sungold’Mrs Raisborough said in her correspondence: “I have never been so well supported by a company such as yours for such a length of time for so little outlay.” And she goes on to say: “Tomatoes…
Top 10 plug plants
Plug plants are a convenient and easy way to fill your garden with colour. Although seeds are cheaper to buy, there is often a lot of work involved, from germination to pricking out tiny seedlings. Cuttings also pose the same problem, requiring nurturing undercover for some time and with varying…
Spring? Blink and You’ve Missed It!
So on Thursday 19th April we went away for The Long Weekend (more of that later). 27?c. Evidence of new shoots emerging in garden at last. Daffodils coming into bloom. Last minute seed sowing completed.Fast forward to Sunday 22nd, 24?c, daffs gone over, tulips out already! Fern coils, emerging from…
How to create beautiful displays with annual flowers
Nigella damascena provides a beautiful display all summer longImage source: ShutterstockOnce March arrives, Nic Wilson’s potting shed is launched into action as her annual flower seedsHere, the experienced gardener behind dogwooddaysYou can sow many hardy annualsWhen designing gardens, I often…
How to improve clay or sandy soils with leafmould
How to improve clay or sandy soils with leafmouldLeafmould is the black gold of gardening. Ten or more years back, I worked in nursery on a rare hill on the Suffolk Essex border. We are talking small scale, husband and wife team, working all hours of day and days of year. The only time off was to…
Chance find becomes Thompson & Morgan’s Flower of the Year for 2013
“It’s amazing what you can find lying around in the nooks and crannies of the seed store!” Alan Sparks of Takii Seed.A lucky discovery in a back room has been exhibited at RHS Chelsea this year and is Thompson & Morgan’s ‘Flower of the Year’. Stunning Nasturtium…
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…
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