Blog

11056 products, 807 articles, 680 blogs

Garden Retail ‘Best New Plant’ 2012 Award goes to

It’s a Hat trick for ‘Illumination Pink’.Thompson & Morgan is thrilled to have won the 2012 Garden Retail ‘Best New Plant’ award for its exclusive and unique foxglove, ‘Illumination Pink’.This highly-regarded award is now the third prestigious accolade…

Thompson & Morgan’s radio show

Listen to our experts’ gardening advice for April in Thompson & Morgan’s first ever radio show!Each month Colin Randel and Michael Perry will be on air to give you the best seasonal gardening advice.In the first broadcast, Andrew and Colin talk to Ken Crowther about the late growing…

Boost butterfly numbers with ‘Buzz’™

‘Save Our Butterflies’ Week 18th – 26th MayBeautiful, scented, dwarf butterfly bushes perfect for small gardensLast summer’s disastrous impact on our butterfly population has been widely reported in recent weeks. So what can we do about dwindling butterfly numbers in…

Cauliflower – the comeback

Is the cauliflower, the most under-appreciated member of the brassica family, making a comeback?After a number of sightings in the national press recently, we thought we’d cast a spotlight on this often overlooked – and overcooked – traditional British vegetable.In The Times…

Decorating with Houseplants

Image: Shutterstock This guide to decorating with houseplants shows you how to get creative with plant shape, texture, colour and size. Plants breathe life into sterile spaces and which houseplants you select and how you arrange them will affect the dynamics of your space and create different…

Competition – how many seeds in this pumpkin?

This giant pumpkin recently broke the UK record for the heaviest specimen at the Autumn Pumpkin Festival in Southampton. The ‘monster’ is now outside Thompson & Morgan’s offices in Ipswich, waiting to be smashed open for its seeds to be counted.Enter our competition and win…

Rainbow vegetables – the latest trend on the veg patch!

There has been a lot of chatter about purple carrots in recent years, as chefs and cooks have wanted to jazz up their dishes, I blame Master Chef! But, Thompson & Morgan have just released the BEST purple carrot- ‘Purple Sun’- which is purple right through to the core!Purple carrots…

Potato recipe competiton – Bubble and Squeak Cakes

This tasty potato recipe is a twist on the traditional bubble and squeak and was sent in by Karen Smith. It’s the perfect accompaniment to many savoury dishes.Bubble and Squeak CakesBubble and Squeak CakesIngredientsPotatoes (no set amount, roughly 60% potato to 40% cabbage)Savoy cabbage,…

Gardening gifts for christmas

Our Christmas gifts for gardeners range is new for 2014 to bring you some added inspiration to find that perfect Christmas gift. Christmas is the perfect time to buy your loved one something they need, would like or don’t know they need! As a gardener there is always something that can come…

5 things you need to know about tomatoes

Tomatoes come in all shapes, colours and sizesImage source: Tomato 'Gigantomo' F1 Hybrid from T&M Is there anything more satisfying than a perfectly ripe, homegrown tomato, freshly picked and warm from the sun? Tomato seeds are easy to grow and a couple of tomato plants will produce hundreds of…

Thompson & Morgan scoops top award

Thompson & Morgan scoops top award – another win at RHS ChelseaPaul Hansord and Michael Perry with the winning plantThompson & Morgan is thrilled to announce that its ‘Plant of the Year’ entry has yet again been placed in the top three at this year’s RHS Chelsea…

How to get the most out of your vegetable plot

You don’t need a huge garden to grow your own food, as you can grow vegetables in containers and flower borders. There are so many health benefits to growing your own fruit and vegetables, not forgetting that gardening alone can burn hundreds of calories!The national guideline is 5 portions…

The Chelsea Roundup

After all the buzz of setting up, last minute polishing and- for some- the clinking of champagne glasses, Chelsea Flower Show exhibitors can now sit back and rest… well almost! Let’s hope the plants can last another day; the unprecedented hot weather this week has given many exhibitors…

T&M raises over £1000 for EACH charity

During November and December 2013 and January 2014, staff at Thompson & Morgan took part in the EACH £50 challenge – and raised over £1000!Julie Rush receives a £50 note from Vanessa Bell, Suffolk Fundraiser for EACHThe challenge itself was to turn £50 into as much money for the EACH…

Thompson & Morgan trials team member wins gold!

Jean Willis’ Container GardenJean Willis, a dedicated and valued member of Thompson & Morgan’s trials team, recently won Gold Award First in the Best Container Garden category of Bournemouth in Bloom 2012.It all started in 2006, when the Bournemouth in Bloom committee was judging…

Watering your garden when you’re on holiday

Summer is here and correct me if I’m wrong, but the weather is being quite well-behaved so far. The occasional storm is actually a positive for the plants, giving them a good soak. The rain will encourage leafy growth, meaning you get even bushier plants, with the potential for more blooms!…

The sweetest tomato you’ll ever taste – or your money back

The sweetest tomato you’ll ever taste – or your money backTomato Sweet Aperitif‘I’m so confident you won’t be disappointed, that I’ll give you your money back if you don’t think this is the best tomato you’ve ever tasted’.This is the strong…

Customer trial panel member profile – Lucas Hatch

We’d like to introduce you to some members of our customer trial panel – our trusty team of gardeners who test Thompson & Morgan’s plants in real gardens. They’ll be writing blog posts for us in the next few months to give you updates on what’s happening in their…

Arthur Davies at the Suffolk Show

Arthur Davies at the Suffolk Show – last season for veteran vegetable exhibitorArthur with Camilla, Duchess of CornwallThompson & Morgan’s vegetable ‘show man’, Arthur Davies, will stage his last impressive vegetable display at the Suffolk Show in Ipswich on 29th and…

Spring is on its way!

The days are beginning to pull out, lighter mornings and also evenings too. Yippee! Washbrook Church I love getting wrapped up and walking over the fields in our village with the kids and hubby this time of the year. We love to visit St Mary's Church in Washbrook which is in an isolated position…

Watering, watering, watering

So, with the recent heat wave (when I say 'heat wave' it felt more like someone was blow-torching the back of my neck - through the factor 50) and with all the watering I had to do. Not only my own garden by the way, but also for friend who is away in the south of France for a month - for some…

Ideas to keep children occupied outside

I’ve been coming up with ideas to keep children occupied outside for the last ten years. And let’s be totally honest here – it has been a somewhat selfish act. The thing is I love gardening – it is both my hobby and profession – and I realised that I would have much…

Tulip ‘Cupcakes’ christened online

Tulip ‘Cupcakes’ christened onlineTweeter names world exclusive collectionTulip ‘Cupcakes’A chance arrangement of tulips has led to the launch of an exclusive new mix by the UK’s most successful horticultural mail order company.When Sarah King, one of Thompson &…

Therapeutic Gardening – How has it helped Melanie ?

Here Thrive, the UK charity that uses therapeutic gardening to change lives, shows how it has made a difference to Melanie’s life.Two years ago when Melanie came to Thrive just after her father died, she was, in her own words, a different person. Losing both parents (her mother had died some…

World’s first electricity-generating sunflower!

Thompson & Morgan’s horticultural innovators who won the Plant of the Year at the Chelsea Flower Show 2012 and introduced the amazing TomTato® have done it again!They have now developed a brand new strain of sunflower which generates its own electricity from the central stem.The…

Gardening news – bees, badger culls & hybrid grass

Gardening news – read our summary of the latest news in the gardening world hereEU votes on neonicotinoid banBees – pesticidesEU states are due to vote today on a 2-year ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which threaten the survival of bees and other pollinators. Should the ban…

Introducing Thompson & Morgan's little book of garden wisdom

Thompson & Morgan's little book of garden wisdom - ready to download now! Imagine having a team of gardening experts by your side, whenever you need a little help. Imagine having their accumulated knowledge and experience at your fingertips. Well, that's what we're bringing you with "Thompson…

Water, water, water keeps the garden rosy

I love to see the sun as much as anybody and it certainly makes the plants grow, but they could also do with a shower of rain from time to time.Unfortunately we have not had a drop of rain for weeks, so my main job every evening is watering. In the garden its best to use the water accumulated in…

How to Help Houseplants Acclimatise to Your New Home

We are well aware of the stress that comes with moving home. Well, plants are just like people in this regard. They acclimate to their environment, and even the subtlest shifts in temperature and light can upset their balance. It will take some time before they finally adapt to their new digs. Even…

How to Grow Calatheas

Calathea is one of the prettiest tropical houseplants from the Marantaceae family that you can have in your home or office. If you want to create a jungle feel in your home, then you simply have to include some leafy Calathea plants. All of them require similar care, which makes your job easier.…

Don’t blame gardeners for potato blight

The potato plants on the left show the devastation caused by blight. The plants on the right are Sárpo.Farmers should grow blight-resistant Sárpo potatoesGardeners and allotment growers can fight back against today’s accusations that they have ‘fuelled a national potato…

Winners of The Alan Titchmarsh Show competition

Winners of The Alan Titchmarsh Show competition visit ITV studiosWinners of The Alan Titchmarsh Show competitionOn Tuesday 12th March, the lucky winners of our Alan Titchmarsh Show competition claimed their prize and spent the afternoon watching the live show.We first advertised the competition in…

We've teamed up with SmartPlantÔäó to provide customers with online expert advice

Have you ever been left puzzled for days on end, trying to remember the name of that plant in your border? We've all been there - racking our memory for an elusive plant name! What if you could catalogue your plants online so that their names were all there at your fingertips? Even better, if you…

Advice for the new allotment holder

Advice for the new allotment holderThis short post is all about string. The string-thing is aimed at new allotment plot holders. As they, like me, may be daunted by the large slab of ground they have just taken on annual rent from the local council.Where to begin with plotting, sowing, portioning…

The Road to Chelsea

A few weeks ago I was asked if would help out with taking the plants to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show that Thompson & Morgan would be using on various stands in the Grand Pavilion - having never been before, I readily agreed - what a chance to go and see a bit of 'behind the scenes' at the…

Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’ wins gold award

Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’ won a gold award in the ‘New Plant’ category of the Salon du Végétal trade show in Angers, France in February this year.Gold for Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’This delightful plant was one of 25 entered into the ‘Innovert’…

RedEye

Sign up for exclusive offers!