Blog

10214 products, 807 articles, 680 blogs

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…

January....

Hello Gardeners, I can't quite believe this will be my fourth year writing for T&M. I have learned so much more about writing blogs as well as gardening over the years. I've shared my ups and downs with you, and formed many friendships with the blogging community. One of things I love is your…

A February full of drama

Hi Everyone, February might be the shortest month, but boy has it been packed with drama - at least for me anyway. First we had the wicked west winds so bitter they could have given an expresso a run for its money. These annoying gusts meant for several days we couldn't go in the greenhouses for…

Gardening memories of 2012

Gardening memories of 20122012 was full of gardening memories, not least because of the almost never-ending rain and lack of sunshine. A while ago we asked our Twitter followers and Facebook fans to tweet and post their most memorable moments and got some great comments. We thought we’d turn…

New plants arrived, but the weather’s too bad to plant them up!

My new strawberry runners (Flamenco, chosen by my 7-year old daughter) arrived at the end of last week and I had hoped to get out into the garden to plant them. Ha! No such luck – a few inches of snow put paid to that idea. We got off quite lightly snow-wise compared to other parts of the…

How I got into gardening, part 1

Michael Perry, New Product ManagerEveryone always asks me what got me into gardening… and the answer is my grandparents!My first bleary memories are of my grandparents’ vast greenhouses, their endless complex of sheds filled with garden tools and, of course, pots and borders lovingly…

Crops for a cool climate

Crops for a Cool ClimateOver the years in which climate change has been discussed in the media, there have been continual suggestions that it will be of benefit to gardeners – allowing us to grow fruit and vegetable crops that enjoy the continental climate, but fail to thrive in a traditional…

The Best Hedges for Clay Soil

Viburnum is just one of many shrubs which thrive in moist clay soil and which make excellent candidates for hedgingIf you are selecting hedges for clay soil, here is an introduction to some of the best available, plus an A-Z list of other species to choose from. Clay soils demand tough plants which…

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,…

How to prune wisteria

Did you know that august is the perfect time to give your wisteria a summer prune?Wisteria is the quintessential climber for the English cottage garden. A well-grown wisteria is an absolute joy in May and June when the beautiful, scented pendants of flowers drape from the branches in a breathtaking…

Dahlias masterclass: best expert content

Dahlias come in a range of colours and stylesImage: Dahlia 'Sunset Shades' from Thompson & Morgan Here's a masterclass on growing dahlias courtesy of some of our favourite gardening bloggers, YouTubers, and Instagrammers. When it comes to dahlias, not only do these growers know their stuff, but…

It takes two - Fuchsia planting partners

Discover your fuchsia's perfect planting partners in our guideImage: Fuchsia Colour Collection (hardy) from Thompson & Morgan The world's your oyster when it comes to choosing the best companion plants to complement your fuchsias. Seasonal tender fuchsias blend so well with other summer bedding…

6 Lawn Care Jobs To Do This Spring

Spring is an important time in the lawn care calendar. In order to help your lawn recover from the stresses of winter you'll need to give it a bit of TLC. If you get your lawn care jobs done in spring, it'll look fantastic heading into the summer. When to Start Spring Lawn Care For most of us in…

Hedges for Wildlife

Go native and plant the ultimate wildlife hotel! Winter is the perfect time for hedge planting, and if you seriously want to put conservation into action, planting a native hedge is an easy and effective way to help some of our most threatened UK species. For most of us, large trees and woodland…

Plot to plate recipes for National Vegetarian Week

Celebrate National Vegetarian Week with delicious recipes from gardening bloggers around the UKImage: monticello At Thompson & Morgan, we're passionate about growing our own food. But sowing, growing and nurturing delicious produce is only half of the story. Harvesting, preparing and eating…

Growing with kids: Mr Men and Little Miss seeds

Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow with childrenImage source: dogwooddays Children love watching plants grow - from that miraculous moment when a tiny seed's first leaves emerge from the ground - to enjoying the flowers and fruits that appear later in the season. Professional garden…

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…

How to store vegetables

Which vegetables will store and how long will they keep? This is an annual dilemma faced by many gardeners. Often the need for storage is caused by gardeners being too generous in their sowings and planting and creating their own ‘gluts’ and ‘surpluses’. Why plant 200 onion…

Carole Patilla

Guest blogger Carole Patilla writes about her love of all things artichoke!Giants of the gardenStunning foliage“What’s that huge, gorgeous silver-leafed thing?” is one of the most frequently asked questions by visitors to my garden. The answer, surprisingly for many, is a globe…

Lemons masterclass: best expert content

Lemons make an attractive patio plantImage: Mediterranean Fruit Collection from Thompson & Morgan Whether you want a twist of lemon in your gin and tonic or something to squeeze over your paella, planting a lemon tree is a great way to make sure you have an easy supply of zesty fruits within…

Autumn Plants Teaser

Our autumn plants range boasts spectacular spring bedding plants, shrubs and perennial plants and with such a huge variety available you will be spoilt for choice. We asked our gardening guru Michael Perry for his top 10 plants from our autumn range, so that we can bring you our autumn plants…

Plants for a small garden – by our customer Amanda

We moved to our house in September 2003 and decided to dig up our front garden to allow parking for three cars.  It’s made it very low maintenance because although I love lawns they do tend to look parched in hot weather, and being on a water meter I didn’t want to use excessive amounts…

Family visit to Hyde Hall

Last weekend we headed down to Hyde Hall to visit Thompson and Morgan's Floral Fantasia. My children were very keen to see all the plants that I had planted, they had seen the pictures I had taken for the previous blog. We love visiting Hyde Hall, taking a picnic and spending the day together. The…

Plants on trial – a sneaky peak

I have always been a fan of over the top, in your face bedding displays and every year I plant out hundreds of plants in beds, pots and baskets. Over the last few years, due to work commitments, I have been finding the up keep a bit difficult.Alstroemeria ‘Planet Mix’Last year I planted…

Light up your garden with yellow: the colour of the year

Add a sunny pop of colour to your garden with yellow flowers Image: Arum Gold Label' from T&MThe colour of 2021, Pantone 'Illuminating' is a warm and vibrant yellow that brings with it the promise of better times. And what better way to celebrate our hope and optimism for the future than by…

Choosing the right plants for your garden

Selecting the right plants for your garden can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many to choose from.We’ve put together a few ‘top 10′ lists of our best-selling patio plants, hanging basket plants, evergreen shrubs and crops for pots.Fuchsia ‘Giants…

Get kids gardening with Mr Men & Little Miss seeds

Get kids gardening with Mr Men & Little Miss seedsImage: Mr Men & Little Miss Seeds Gardening is a healthy and inexpensive way for children to learn and have fun. It gets them out into the fresh air - and many will develop an interest in healthy eating if they grow their own fruit and veg.…

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…

Our Summer Display – by Pam Gray

I am really looking forward to writing some blogs for Thompson & Morgan and as this is my first piece, I will tell you a little bit about our garden and myself. Our garden isn’t huge, 40′ x 27′ at the front and approx 80′ x 30′ at the back, with a very small garden…

7 wonderful ways to sow wildflowers

Wildflowers deliver colour, scent, texture and interest to gardens large and smallImage: shutterstock Wildflowers are a colourful, low-maintenance and cost-effective way to make your garden buzz with life. Particularly attractive to pollinators, they provide important food and shelter for a wide…

An Amazing May

Hi Everyone, What an amazing May, so hot and dry! Hope this isn't our summer. I have a confession to make - I've not done half as much in the greenhouses as I would usually do. Don't get me wrong, I love being in them, or in my garden, but with limited energy, mobility and dexterity I have not been…

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…

How to Plant up Hanging Baskets

Create an amazing display with little effort!Image: Petunia Surfinia' Collection from Thompson & Morgan Hanging baskets are an easy way to add interest, scent and colour without much effort! Simply choose your colour scheme, order some hanging basket plants and follow the three easy steps…

Our Spring 2021 Top 10 Preview!

Thompson & Morgan Lead the Way this Season with their Spring 2021 Top 10 Preview!Thompson & Morgan introduce their top 10 new varieties which represent the best of the best this spring. Here you will find exciting World and UK Exclusives, stunning breakthroughs in breeding developed under…

Pass Me My WW1 Trenching Tool

Oh but wasn't I right - as the nights draw in we wistfully reminisce about the long hot summer of 2018. Get over it! Time to move on! And move on we have; half the garden is enjoying the extrovert opulence of autumn and half, well, the other half has been dug up! The prospect of a year out of…

The Good Life in Practice

I am a 24 year old attempting to live more eco-friendly. I first lived in Suffolk but now live in a small flat in a village in Switzerland. I have been living in the Berner Oberland canton since April 2012 (so just over a year!) since getting a job here. My boyfriend Michael and I have been trying…

RedEye

Sign up for exclusive offers!