by Holly Taylor | Mar 4, 2013 | Michael Perry's Gardening Blog
If you’re a fan of the shopping channel QVC, you may have already spotted some Thompson & Morgan products on the show. Working with QVC, we always make sure the most unique plants are on offer, often at some unbeatable deals.
And now you get to see a bit more behind the scenes!
Here’s what happened when I was at QVC with Shows Assistant, Sarah Dodsworth for a show at the weekend.
Watch from midnight tonight to see our newest offer – some extra special strawberry plants!
You can tune in to QVC on:
- Sky Digital – channel 640
- Freeview – channel 16
- Virgin TV – channel 740
- Freesat – channel 800
The QVC buildings in west London
They let us in!
Our flash new T&M set
A hearty breakfast
Getting ready for the show
Ready for action…
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Me on set with Matthew Biggs
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After the show…
Chilling in the dressing room
by Holly Taylor | Feb 25, 2013 | Michael Perry's Gardening Blog
Following on from my post last week, here are two more dazzling new plants, each with an interesting twist…
Rose ‘Waterfall Collection’
Rose ‘Waterfall Collection’
The hanging basket rose idea has been bouncing around our plant-soaked heads for the last few seasons, but until now we hadn’t found a rose with an impressive trail AND fragrance.
Then we found the Waterfall Series, it’s a whole new generation of basket plant.
‘Waterfall’ roses are a refreshing change to fuchsias! Start them off nice and early, I recommend that you plant up a 14 inch basket with 3 plants (1 of each colour). The prostrate habit of the roses soon tumbles down over the sides of the basket, and clusters of perfumed flowers bejewel the stems.
It’s the perfect hanging basket for a baking hot position. Or why not experiment by mixing them up with some geraniums? (Even we haven’t tried this yet!)
Clematis ‘Top to Bottom’
Clematis Top to Bottom
We’re always looking for gardening and plant solutions. We want to help customers enjoy the plants that grow and for them to give tip top performance.
Many customers love to grow clematis, but one of the main problems can be that they flower all at the top, leaving… ahem… a bare bottom!
When we got chatting to one of our French contacts, they revealed a new clematis range they were looking at with some of the largest blooms we’d ever seen. But what was even better was that each variety was selected for even flowering on the vine, from top to bottom.
These clematis can now be used as specimens – there’s no need to hide them behind shrubs and perennial borders. Be proud, be seen!!
by Holly Taylor | Feb 13, 2013 | Michael Perry's Gardening Blog
Here’s a sneak peek of some new varieties for 2013 – get the inside story here first!
Lisianthus ‘Summer Blue Rose’
Summer Blue Roses
As the world battles to create the perfect blue rose, we’ve been a bit cheeky and devised the new blue summer rose!
This gorgeous lilac-blue lisianthus really caught our attention at an autumn trade show last year with its tightly scrolled buds, which seemed to open to a pseudo-English rose flower! Lisianthus are a popular cut flower across Europe, thanks to their elegant form and vase life. They also make an easy patio or border plant, not needing gallons of water and happy in a baking sunny spot too.
So, it’s not a true rose, but won’t you have fun tricking your friends with some homegrown bunches on the dinner table?!
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Petunia ‘Crazytunia Mandevilla’
Crazytunia series
Wow, these petunias certainly live up to their name!
It’s not often this happens, but the breeders of the ‘Crazytunia’ petunias were told to do whatever they wanted with their petunia breeding. So they went a little crazy! The results are phenomenal, with colour combinations you’ll never have seen before and more to come. I was lucky enough to visit the ‘petunia breeding kitchen’ last summer and, if you think these are wow, you just wait until you see the newer varieties. There’s one I’ve already nicknamed ‘Kermit’!
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Petunia ‘Crazytunia Pulse’
Petunia ‘Crazytunia Wedgwood Blue’
by Holly Taylor | Feb 13, 2013 | Michael Perry's Gardening Blog
In my second ‘make a change to your plant choices’ article I’ll be showing you some superb varieties that have the edge of other plants and vegetables in our range.
Runner Bean Moonlight – self-fertile beans
Grow Runner Bean Moonlight, not Lady Di
Why?
Bad weather and unpredictable summers can mean runner bean flowers often don’t set, giving disappointing (or absent) crops and perhaps discouraging you from growing your own beans again.
When it’s wet there are fewer insects, so the beans don’t get pollinated, and when it’s too hot the flowers can fall before setting.
The French bean blood in Moonlight means the blooms are self-fertile, so will set and produce beans whatever the weather! Why grow any other runner bean?
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Dianthus ‘Endless Love’ – extremely hardy plants
Grow Dianthus ‘Endless Love’, not other dianthus varieties
Why?
Many of the newer pinks and carnations are very pretty, but not necessarily as hardy as their ancestors.
‘Endless Love’ is a new strain from Germany, which combines 100s of sweetly spiced blooms with bone hardiness, up and down the country.
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Sunflower ‘Inca Gold’ – perfect for baskets
Grow Sunflower ‘Inca Gold’ in baskets, not petunias and begonias
Why?
Hanging baskets can become a chore during the height of the summer and will often need watering at least once a day.
Sunflower ‘Inca Gold’ is a brand new specimen, which is makes a resilient basket plant, needing less water than most. And the reward for this apparent neglect is an absolute flurry of sunny blooms from June to October!
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Nasturtium ‘Orange Troika’ – vibrant blooms on marbled foliage
Nasturtium ‘Orange Troika’, not ‘Climbing Mixed’
Why?
Nasturtiums are a mainstay of gardens, but until now haven’t really been suitable for use in hanging baskets.
Nasturtiums usually tend to become giant and cabbage-like, trailing half-way down the garden the minute you turn your back! ‘Orange Troika’ is a new, more manageable type, which keeps itself in check, so works well in hanging baskets.
by Holly Taylor | Jan 30, 2013 | Michael Perry's Gardening Blog
Make a positive change to your plant choices this spring – new from Michael Perry
Perhaps you’ve become used to growing the same plants each year, regardless of whether they perform well for you or not! You may even doubt your own gardening skills when those plants fail or succumb to pest or disease.
I’m about to change all that.
My new range of articles will show you some positive alternatives for you to try, such as tomatoes that won’t be shot down by blight or just some fresher choices for the patio.
Gerbera Landscape’ – flowers all summer long
Grow gerbera ‘Landscape’, not zonal geraniums
Why?
Pots of zonal geraniums can often be the lazy gardener’s choice. Yes, they’re resilient and long-lasting, but wouldn’t you like to try something new?
Recent breeding technology has revolutionised the popular cut flower gerbera. These exclusive new patio varieties are ideal for summer patio pots and will virtually look after themselves.
The plants are incredibly robust and will produce more than 50 blooms through the season. You can save them for the second year, just as you would zonal geraniums, so they’ll come back bigger and better.
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Lily ‘China Girl’ – pollen-free lilies
Grow lily ‘China Girl’, not lily ‘Stargazer’
Why?
For all the beauty of ‘Stargazer’, its colour display can be notoriously short-lived.
Why not consider lily ‘China Girl’? This exclusive new variety will last twice as long as ‘Stargazer’, thanks to its extra layer of petals. You’ll probably also find the fragrance a bit more enjoyable too – it’s softer and less over-powering than usual oriental lilies.
What’s more, lily ‘China Girl’ is also pollen-free, meaning it won’t stain your clothes as the pollen-speckled blooms of ‘Stargazer’ will! ‘China Girl’ is seldom seen in florists or even garden centres.
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Cosmos ‘Brightness Mixed’ – stunning in borders
Grow cosmos ‘Brightness Mixed’, not French marigolds
Why?
The days of regimented, odd-smelling marigolds could be over! There’s now an alternative which is just as brightly coloured and has even more flower power.
Cosmos ‘Brightness Mixed’ is a sulphureus type of cosmos, which has a lovely spreading habit. Plants will knit together and cover the ground better than any marigold, suppressing weeds and mulching the soil as they go, meaning less watering!
We’ve tested these cosmos in our trials for a few years now and they’ll flower right from late June until the first frosts.
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Tomato Ferline – blight-resistant tomatoes
Grow tomato ‘Ferline’, not tomato ‘Moneymaker’
Why?
Tomato Moneymaker is a well-known variety, grown since the 1960s by home gardeners.
But, as UK summers become ever more unpredictable, this older variety just isn’t coming up to scratch. Plants often get destroyed by blight, an airborne fungal disease, which can ruin crops within days.
‘Ferline’ is a sensible alternative, as it is one of the most blight tolerant varieties in the marketplace. The answer to tomato fans’ prayers! Good-sized, tasty fruits, some say even better flavoured than ‘Moneymaker’ too.
