by Jean Willis | Jun 2, 2015 | Gardening Posts, Your Stories
Tomtato
This spring has proved the most challenging gardening season in all my gardening years. In November 2014 whilst on holiday at my Sister`s in Huntington Beach, California, I had a bad fall and fractured my spine. I`ve always wanted an extended holiday but not quite like this – flat on my back. Getting the garden ready had to be done in short bursts so I could rest but with the help of my Husband Alan, who did all of the lifting, moving and digging I managed to get the garden sorted.
I am growing the TomTato® again this year as it was very successful last year with almost 5 kg of tomatoes as well as the potatoes harvested. I started it off indoors but as soon as the weather was right transferred it into the larger container of Incredicompost® in a sunny but sheltered position.
Begonia ‘Apricot Shades’
I ordered `garden ready` plants this year as I wasn’t sure how much I would be able to do in the early months. They arrived this last week and look wonderful, very fresh and ready for planting. I love Begonia ‘Apricot Shades’ and have planted these into a triple basket, 12”/14”/16” and now in position in the front garden. They are very easy to handle and you don`t have to worry about growing them on first which might have been a problem as I couldn’t stand for very long.
I am planning to use three troughs at the side of the front garden but looking at them they really looked worse for wear, then I wondered if they could be painted with the blue paint we have on our decking, no sooner said than done as Alan painted them last night now they just need planting up and they look like new troughs.
I have also planted a triple stand with black and red petunias and red diascia as a tribute to our local football team – AFC Bournemouth who have just been promoted to the Premier League from being almost bankrupt six years ago. I am patiently waiting for these plants to start flowering so I can see the full effect.
April here in Bournemouth on the South Coast was very dry and warm everything in the garden really sat up and took notice flowering quite early in some cases. May, unfortunately has been cold and wet. In March my 90 year old neighbour died, I have been looking after her front garden for several years. I was very kindly given two stone planters which stood either side of her front door. They now take pride of place in my back garden.
My Strawberry ‘Irresistible’ which I had on trial about three years ago are doing exceptionally well and now have the fruit formed – and to think they almost got thrown out as they had been covered in leaves in the winter and couldn’t see the plants!!
Here`s hoping that the rest of the summer is going to be kind to us all especially the gardeners. Enjoy!
I started gardening 65 years ago on my Dad’s allotment and now live in Bournemouth, where spend a lot of time gardening since retiring. In 2012 I won the Gold Award for Bournemouth in Bloom Container Garden. I am a member of Thompson & Morgan’s customer trial panel.
by Terri Overett | Apr 9, 2015 | Gardening News, Gardening Posts
Our 2014 plant trials produced some surprising results for our Petunias. Weather conditions really put them to the test with a frustrating mix of heat waves and summer storms but, they didn’t fail to impress.
Traditionally, petunias are the first plants to take a hit from poor British weather, especially from heavy rain. However, our robust petunias stood strong, and bounced right back after our summer downpours showing little signs of damage. They really are a must have plant for resilient summer displays!
With built in weather resistance and robust habit, our Petunia ‘Crazytunia’ Collection is a spectacular patio variety. Upright growth in never seen before colour combinations, they offer great weather resistance, flowering beautifully in pots, beds or borders, come rain or shine.
‘These stunning blooms that have lasted summer and had many comments from visitors, especially the Green with Envy and Starlight Blue which are still flowering in the garden come October’ Geoff Stonebanks, Driftwood.
Trailing ‘Surfinia’ Mixed has the longest trailing stems of any petunias! Surfinia is one of the world’s most popular trailing varieties and it is with reason. Known for their impressive flower power, weather resistance and colour ranger, this variety will provide outstanding displays from June to September.
I remember reading a blog from one of our customer trial members. Alison was not a fan of petunias, but being a trial member she grew what we gave handed to her and of course, you guessed it, we gave her Petunias! Not to our surprise Alison was converted, you can find out more here.
Why not try them, and give petunias a firm place in your garden.
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
by Bijal Mistry | Aug 20, 2014 | Gardening News, Your Stories
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 Alstroemeria ‘Planet Mix’ in one of the beds. They gave a great show last year and have been in flower since May this year. Each week I can easily cut 20 stems of flowers without harming the display. Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ has also come back bigger and better this year. I just love the combination of red and yellow in the flowers.
Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’
Early this year I converted another two beds to display perennial plants. Considering it’s only the first summer after planting I am really surprised at how mature it all looks. I have used cottage garden plants along with Penstemon ‘Wedding Bells’ and Foxglove which were both sent as trial plants last year. The spotty markings in the foxglove are just fab!
Foxglove
Begonias have to be my favourite plant. I am so glad that Thompson & Morgan are reviving these plants as they truly are amazing. Glowing Embers, Peardrop and Giant Picotee have all started to flower. A few years ago I trialled a trailing fragrant variety of begonia. I still have some of these tubers left and this year I have planted them in a window box under the kitchen window. The sweet scent is lovely in the warm muggy evenings we have been having.
Another favourite are petunias. I just love how T&M find new amazing colour combos in the flowers each year. I have planted Black Cherry in my Begonia Apricot Shades baskets. I am hoping the black of the flower will contrast well with the citrus colours of the begonias. The scent of petunias is just intoxicating too. The dark varieties seem to have the strongest. I wish someone could capture this and put it into a candle.
I do not plant as many containers for the winter season, so once all the plants had finished I would empty the compost into the large tonne bags you can get from the builders. This year as I have drastically reduced the amount of summer containers I have planted I still have a full tonne bag of compost left. Not knowing what to do with it I decided to plant veg in it. I think I have gone a bit over the top by planting tomatoes, chillies, aubergines, sweet corn, marrow and cucumbers in it. I have also planted climbing beans around the edge. The idea being they will trail and cover the sides.
So far everything is growing superbly. I have already harvested tomatoes, cucumber and chillies. The sweetcorn is almost 5 foot tall! In separate planters I have peas almost ready to pick and the tomato also has fruit setting.
Well, I must get back to the watering. I hope to update you all on the garden very soon!
As a member of Thompson & Morgan’s customer trial panel, Bijal Mistry tests plants, bulbs and seeds in his own garden on the outskirts of Manchester. He has won several awards and is happiest tending to his garden, especially the begonias and poinsettias!
Learn more about Bijal on the Thompson & Morgan blog here.
by Terri Overett | May 30, 2014 | Your Stories
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 at the side of the house. Both I and my husband Barry are very enthusiastic gardeners and we are always planning and growing plants for our summer displays.
Barry does all the hard work and enjoys looking after our veggie garden and allotment. We live in Surrey and the soil is typical ‘bagshot’ sand and therefore needs lots of garden compost dug in each year. I have been gardening for over 30 years now and I have 3 incredible greenhouses! Barry built my first greenhouse and I inherited a second greenhouse from an Auntie. I was then lucky enough to win the other one in a competition.
Greenhouse no.1 is my veggie greenhouse where I grow tomatoes, peppers, chillies, cucumbers and my favourite herbs which consists of different varieties of Basil.
Greenhouse no.2 is a pot plant greenhouse in summer and a cuttings greenhouse in winter. Greenhouses have uses all year round!
Greenhouse no.3 is for anything I can’t fit into the other two!! This year it will be full of peppers and chillies some of which I will be trialling for Thompson & Morgan (I am really looking forward to it) I really enjoy being a trial member. It is such a joy to grow products and share the results with other gardeners.
I really enjoy making our front garden as colourful as possible for the summer. I also enjoying growing plants from cuttings, seeds and plugs as I try to make our garden look a bit ‘cottagy’ rather than too formal. This year our garden will be full of cosmos, marguerites, petunias, begonias, vanilla marigolds, blue salvias and ageratum.
Our back garden has a small pond and lawn area too, we have a secret garden and a veggie garden which is edged with cordon fruit trees.
For the past few years we have opened our garden for the National Garden Scheme and last summer we were filmed for a small part in the Great British Garden Revival alongside Christine Walkden in the Ornamental Bedding episode – it was very exciting!
Thank you for reading my blog,
Best Wishes,
Pam
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
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