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Petunia masterclass: best expert content

This climbing petunia has been trained up an obelisk to create a spectacular focal point Image: Petunia 'Tidal Wave Improved' from T&MHere you'll find the best expert content on raising petunia seeds or growing petunia plug plants. We've scoured the web to bring you insights from the experts…

SowStrong® – A Natural Way to Growing Success

SowStrong® – A Natural Way to Growing SuccessThe coloured coating allows a precise sowingNew and exclusive to Thompson & Morgan in 2013 is the new SowStrong® range. Featured in the 12th January issue of Amateur Gardening, these vegetable seeds have been coated with 100% natural and…

Inspiring indoor gardening blogs

Take advice from these expert houseplant bloggersImage: Houseplant 'Urban Jungle' Collection from T&M Growing indoor plants is fun, rewarding and even good for your health. House plants purify the air, help counteract mould and fungi, and the sight of foliage and flowers in the midst of winter…

Sunshine and sowing seeds

I made the most of the sunshine on Sunday morning, busy sowing my tomato and chilli seeds, I love this time of year when it gets busy with seed selection and seed sowing. The up cycled table that my husband Ian repaired last year comes in handy for potting seeds (but it is the dog grooming table!)I…

Favourite garden memory of 2012

With excitement and well drawn plans of the new year, I began 2012 with aspirations of extending my vegetable growing knowledge and growing some good crops at home in my small garden. Still a beginner and only in my second year of anything garden related… ever, I wanted to have another go at…

How to get the most from your petunias

Petunia Pegasus Wine Splash' petals are attractively flecked with burgundyImage: Petunia 'Pegasus Wine Splash' from Thompson & Morgan Petunias are hugely popular bedding plants that you can order as plugs or garden-ready plants. Alternatively, you can sow your own petunia seeds as a…

Chillies and sweet peppers masterclass: best expert content

Chillies and sweet peppers both pack a colourful flavour punchImage: Chilli Pepper Fresno Mix' F1 Seeds from Thompson & Morgan If you want to grow your own chilli and sweet pepper plants indoors on a sunny windowsill or outdoors in the garden, here's the best advice from some of our favourite…

Clematis Revival

 A Montana for spring and a ‘Nelly Moser’ for summer used to be enough to satisfy most gardeners, but clematis are changing, and so too is their use in the garden. We have so many varieties for every location in the garden with the smaller varieties perfect for patio and container…

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…

How to grow petunias from seed

Grow your own stunning petunias from seed this yearImage: Petunia 'Mirage White' F1 Hybrid from Thompson & Morgan There's a real sense of satisfaction in growing your own show-stopping display of petunias from seed. And the good news is that sowing petunia seeds isn't difficult at all. Follow…

Top 5 daffodils ready for planting now

Daffodils growing in masses are a delightful sight and, with colours ranging from white, yellow and pink, there’s a daffodil for every garden. Plant them in pots or grow them in bold drifts naturalised in grass for maximum effect. Watch our video on how to grow bulbs for the best results. You…

A successful year at Driftwood

2013 was a very successful year for gardener Geoff Stonebanks and his garden, Driftwood!The back gardenIt saw his garden related charity fundraising top the £32,000 mark in just 4 years, for which he became a finalist in the BBC Sussex Community Heroes Awards last December. Even in the depths of…

Plan your garden for a stunning display

Don’t get caught out with a dull garden next spring… just a bit of planning now could mean you have a display to be proud of!Pansy ‘Matrix Mixed’We offer a huge range of young plants which can’t be found elsewhere; selected for garden performance, and unique and often…

Living Green: Growing Your Own Vegetables

We all know how tasty fresh vegetables are in meals and salads. However, no matter how well you seem to time your visits to the grocery store, finding the freshest of produce is mostly by sheer luck. Growing your own vegetables gives you a break from grocery store trips while ensuring that you…

From Rake To Bake - Mint ÔÇÿn' Chocolate Biscuits

Welcome to Baking Blog. Each month will feature an in-season fruit or vegetable dish to make with a little bit of grow-your-own information on the side. May is perfect for making Mint n' Chocolate Biscuits. Hands up who only uses the mint in their garden for savoury dishes? Yet, it is so much more…

Gardening without plastic

A few small changes can make a big difference Image: Garden Ninja We're flooding the planet with plastic, and there's currently a huge focus on how much ends up in our oceans. But as gardeners, what can we do about it? Traditionally, plant care and propagation have always relied heavily on plastic…

Lorraine Pullen – The Good Life – Well Maybe!

Read Lorraine Pullen’s post about her first year of blogging.I became a blogger just over 12 months ago when I started my own blog entitledThe Good Life – Well Maybe!The “Well Maybe” was added as I was a recently retired public servant, with little experience of growing…

Was Buying a House Called ‘Brambles’ an Omen? (Part Two)

Was Buying a House Called ‘Brambles’ an Omen? (Part Two)There is a famous quote by Thomas Fuller (English Churchman and historian) that goes “No garden is without its weeds”. Well, Mr Fuller was a very wise man and had he not been dead nigh on 350 years I would swear that he…

Growing summer flowers for cutting

Satisfaction twice - from growing, and from arranging. Image: shutterstock As spring arrives and temperatures start to rise, my thoughts turn to flowers. And not just flowers to be enjoyed in the garden. I'm talking about those grown specifically for cutting, to allow me to bring a little of that…

Daffodils – plant them now for the best blooms

Plant daffodils now for the best spring displaysNarcissus ‘Rainbow Butterflies Mixed’A colleague heard Alan Titchmarsh talking about planting daffodils in August on his radio show at the weekend and was a bit surprised. After all, August is hardly the usual time to be thinking about…

Hanging basket habits revealed

A vibrant display of hanging baskets can make your garden in summer pop!Image: Nurserymans Choice Hanging Basket Mixed Collection from T&M A recent Thompson & Morgan survey has revealed some surprising habits, when it comes to summer hanging baskets. Love them or loathe them, nothing sets…

My garden is thriving

Due to the wet winter and mild spell in April my garden is thriving! The perennials and shrubs are looking so advanced in my borders and the lupins are trying to flower already. What is most unusual for this time of year; I have delphiniums in bud. Not that I am complaining!Due to the amount of…

Get growing in the garden this Easter!

The long Easter weekend conjures thoughts of Easter egg hunts, family roasts, and the promise of warmer weather. But Easter is also the beginning of the gardening year for many, as they make use of the bank holidays to get the garden sorted - before things really get out of hand! ®Sue Sanderson.…

From Rake To Bake - Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Welcome to my Baking Blog. Each month will feature an in-season fruit or vegetable dish to make with a little bit of grow-your-own information on the side. April is perfect for making Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Cabbage. It's one of those leafy green vegetables that are often overlooked Cabbage doesn't…

From Rake To Bake - Curried Cauliflower Crunch

Welcome to Baking Blog. Each month will feature an in-season fruit or vegetable dish to make with a little bit of grow-your-own information on the side. March is perfect for making Curried Cauliflower Crunch. Cauliflower doesn't have to be boring, there are many different varieties to sow, grow,…

Spring-summer customer trials update – Caroline Broome

Caroline Broome has been busy growing dahlias, petunias, fuchsias and many other plants as part of our customer trial panel. Read on for her latest update.In an email to Thompson & Morgan’s customer trials co-ordinator, she wrote “I know I keep on about the dahlias from 2012 but…

Scent-sational Spring Flowers!

As I stepped into my garden earlier this week, I was captured by a breath-taking fragrance. I went in search of its source - and there on the other side of the fence was a magnificent Sarcococca! I love this reliable evergreen shrub. It has an intense (but not overpowering) perfume. Better still,…

Chelsea Flower Show, the floral sweet shop

I’m like a kid in a sweet shop when it comes to plants.. Well, there’s no better sweet shop than the RHS Chelsea Flower Show! Even if you don’t know your tulip from your tropaeolum, it’s hard not to be enthralled by this prestigious show, which will be in its centenary year…

July - Anyone for Blackberry Jam?

So here we are in early August, it's 33c outside, and I'm making blackberry jam! What on earth is going on? No sooner had the strawberries finished fruiting than the blackberries were ripe for picking! Is it me or has there been a worldwide conspiracy perpetuating the mysteries of jam making? 10…

Top 10 Easiest Houseplants

A group of easy to grow houseplants including Zamioculcas (back left) Sanseviera (far left), Aspidistra (second right) and Spathiphyllum (far right). Image: ShutterstockWould you love to have some lush greenery in your home but don't feel that you have the expertise? Let's face it - we have all…

How to Plant a Bareroot Hedge

Now is the time to plant your bareroot hedge. Don't leave it too late! The bareroot planting season is from November to March, when plants are dormant, and the sooner you get them in before bud burst the better. Getting out into the garden in the winter can be a challenge but planting a hedge is a…

Poetry corner – Veg Verse by Kate Williams

Kate Williams is a published performance poet, specialising in humorous poetry for gardeners. Her ‘Veg Verse’ collection is all about the ups and downs of gardening, from slugs and bugs to droughts and floods, and more. She performs her poems for gardening clubs, punctuating her…

Onions are not shallot

Onions are grown by a large number of gardeners and used in multiple culinary dishes. It really is surprising that so many people grow onions but don’t grow and have never tried growing shallots. Both onions and shallots are easy to grow and they make the perfect beginner crop for new…

Enjoy December’s garden

After a long year tending to our garden, December is the time for us to put our feet up with a spring catalogue and enjoy the winter’s tracery. During colder days we can sit back with a hot chocolate in hand, topped with toasty marshmallows and admire the lingering frost on summers faded…

How to use hardy fuchsias in the garden

Hardy fuchsia 'Hawkshead' produces delicate white blossomsImage: Fuchsia 'Hawkshead' from Thompson & Morgan Hardy fuchsia plants are excellent all-rounders, showcasing a fabulous range of flower forms throughout the season. From delicate four-petalled blooms to blowsy giants, they're a great…

Tomatoes masterclass: best expert content

Try Tomato Gourmandia' F1 Hybrid for gorgeous texture and flavour, perfect for slicing onto sandwiches Image: Tomato Gourmandia' F1 Hybrid from Thompson & MorganDo you want to grow your own fresh tomatoes? Here's a collection of the best online content to get you started and refine your…

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