by Kris Collins | Feb 10, 2016 | Gardening Posts
A variety that will regenerate the buddleja market! That was the expert verdict of industry specialists as they crowned Buddleja ‘Buzz™ Indigo’ Best New Variety: Hardy Nursery Stock at the recent UK Grower Awards 2016.
Hailed as the world’s first patio buddleja, all colours within the Buzz™ series have gone down a storm with UK gardeners looking for a more manageable way of adding the iconic flower spikes of buddleja to their planting displays. The dwarf variety reaching little more than 4ft (1.2m) in height, retains the best qualities of its larger cousin B. davidii, but has done away with all its negative aspects.
Not only do plants in the series remain bushy and compact for container growing, they will grow in almost any free-draining soil too. The scented flower spikes have extremely low fertility, virtually removing the risk of self seeding in the garden – or worse, in brickwork and hard landscaping features – something that has seen B. davidii added to the UK invasive plant species list, vastly reducing its appeal with the gardening public. While Buzz™ blooms won’t set seed, they are the only dwarf variety to retain the large flower size of B. davidii and certainly produce a lot of nectar – an essential attribute if gardeners are to help conservationists turn around the dramatic decline in UK butterfly populations*.
Buddleja ‘Buzz Indigo’
These unique attributes, plus a new colour-break, set the Thompson & Morgan entry apart from the crowd, with award judges stating: “Buddleja ‘Buzz™ Indigo’ has the potential to revitalise Buddleja sales with the support of a good marketing campaign, regenerating the market for the species.”
This is the second time that Thompson & Morgan’s exclusive dwarf buddleja series has been applauded at the UK Grower Awards, considered by industry insiders to be the Oscars of the plant world. In 2010, following an extensive breeding programme at its Ipswich HQ, Thompson & Morgan launched the first colour in the Buddleja ‘Buzz™’ series – ‘Lilac’, which quickly took the title of Best New Plant Variety at the 2010 award bash.
Growers Winner Banner
Since then T&M Plant Breeding Team has been developing new flower colours to maximise the potential of this groundbreaking series, which has transformed the way buddlejas are used in UK gardens. Buddleja ‘Indigo’ was launched for the 2015 gardening season, joining ‘Lilac, ‘Magenta’, ‘Sky Blue’ ‘Candy Pink’ and ‘Ivory’.
Buddleja Buzz™ 3 in 1
There are no new Buzz™ colours for 2016, but the latest concept is set to be another strong contender for the awards in 2017. Buddleja ‘Buzz™ 3-in-1’, new to the Thompson & Morgan Spring Catalogue, offers three different flower colours, seemingly on the same plant. Supplied as a 3litre potted plant it is actually three varieties grown together; each will grow in harmony and produce a compact bush with fragrant, indigo, ivory and candy pink flower spikes!
Notes
- Thompson & Morgan was also recognised in two other categories at the UK Grower Awards. Assistant Nursery Manager, Hannah Miller, was a shortlisted finalist for Young Grower of the Year, while Raspberry Ruby Beauty was Highly Commended in the Best New Variety: Soft/Top Fruit category.
- The following evening the mail order specialist’s incredi-range of incredicompost® and incredibloom® and incredicrop® fertilisers was also announced as a finalist for the Best New Garden Product category at the Garden Retail and Garden Industry Awards.
- * A recent report published by Butterfly Conservation has revealed that more than three quarters of butterfly species have significantly declined in the past 40 years and is urging the British public to act by planting suitable supporting plant species. See butterfly-conservation.org.uk for more information.
- All colours in the Buddleja ‘Buzz™’ Series are currently available to order via
thompson-morgan.com/Buzz Prices start at £7.99
Kris Collins works as Thompson & Morgan’s quality control manager, making sure customers new and old are kept up to date on the latest plant developments and company news via a wide range of media sources. He trained in London’s Royal Parks and has spent more than a decade writing for UK gardening publications before joining the team at Thompson & Morgan.
by Kris Collins | Feb 3, 2016 | Expert Update, Fruit, Gardening News, Gardening Posts, Potatoes, Vegetables
Thompson & Morgan promises best year on the vegetable patch with host of innovative growing concepts for 2016
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Kris Collins works as Thompson & Morgan’s quality control manager, making sure customers new and old are kept up to date on the latest plant developments and company news via a wide range of media sources. He trained in London’s Royal Parks and has spent more than a decade writing for UK gardening publications before joining the team at Thompson & Morgan.
by Kris Collins | Jan 28, 2016 | Gardening Posts
Thompson & Morgan focus on a favourite to back Year of the Cosmos
Cosmos are always a favourite option with Thompson & Morgan customers. Easy to grow, free flowering in beds and containers, a wide colour range and an excellent cut flower. Cosmos are an obvious choice for beginners and established gardeners alike.
The mail order seed and plant specialist sold more than 117,000 packets of Cosmos, across some 40 varieties, during the 2014- 2015 season. It is looking to take that further this season by showing support for the industry-wide Fleuroselect Year of the Cosmos marketing campaign. The firm’s 2016 Seed Catalogue contains a dedicated inspirational spread to this popular genus, and will champion new Cosmos ‘Xanthos’ as the Thompson & Morgan Flower of the Year 2016.
Cosmos ‘Xanthos’ – Flower of the Year 2016
Horticultural Director, Paul Hansord, said: “New cosmos are always popular with our customers – we struggled to meet demand for our exclusive Cosmos ‘Cupcakes’ last season, and we’re expecting big things from ‘Xanthos’ in 2016. Yellow is a much sought after colour in the genus. With all eyes on these easy to grow summer performers thanks to the Fleuroselect campaign, we hope to see even more gardeners adding Cosmos to their schemes in 2016.”
Comsos ‘Xanthos’ seed is available from Thompson & Morgan at £2.49 for 30 seeds or £11.99 for 25 plug plants and £16.99 for 50 plug plants
Other popular varieties from the Thompson & Morgan range include ‘Sweet Sixteen’, ‘All Sorts Mixed’, ‘Brightness Mixed’ and the all new ‘Rubenza’ – an unusual type admired for its colour changing petals . Flowers start of a rich ruby-red turning to a traditional rose shade as they mature. With a mass of flowers all at different stages, the overall effect is stunning. (£2.99 for 60 seeds).
Kris Collins works as Thompson & Morgan’s quality control manager, making sure customers new and old are kept up to date on the latest plant developments and company news via a wide range of media sources. He trained in London’s Royal Parks and has spent more than a decade writing for UK gardening publications before joining the team at Thompson & Morgan.
by Kris Collins | Jan 20, 2016 | Competitions, Flowers, Gardening Posts
Busy gardeners looking for easy solutions boost Garden Ready plant sales for mail order giant
Sales of Thompson & Morgan Garden Ready plug plants have nearly tripled in the past season as gardeners look for time saving products alongside value for money. It seems gardeners still want the financial benefits of buying young plants instead of mature plants, but without the hassle of potting up and growing on before planting out.
T&M vs Competitiors Garden Ready
The mail order seed and plant specialist supplied more than 4 million Garden Ready bedding plants to UK gardeners in 2015. When asked if they would be buying them again in a satisfaction survey powered by Typeform, 96 per cent said they would be back for more in spring 2016, giving the concept a 5 star rating for quality on arrival and performance in the garden.
The new plant sizing bridges the gap between traditional small mail order plug plants and larger retail pack bedding. Small enough to be produced and mailed as plug plants but big enough to rival and exceed pack plant performance, Garden Ready plants represent the perfect balance between convenience and value for money.
Thompson & Morgan Horticultural Director, Paul Hansord, says the over-sized Garden Ready plants bring many benefits in comparison to smaller plugs and larger pack plants: “Our Garden Ready bedding plants are selected and grown to give our customers the best possible performance in the garden, we send them direct from the nursery at the perfect time for planting, usually before blooms form, for quicker establishment, better root growth and flowering, and a longer, stronger display.”
Garden-Ready-Plant
Unlike smaller plug plant offerings sent early in the season, which remain popular with Thompson & Morgan customers who prefer a more hands on approach to their gardening, the Garden Ready plants are despatched from May onwards, already hardened off for immediate planting – just watch out for late frosts.
Launching the concept in 2014, the mail order specialist supplied 1.5million Garden Ready Plants to customers in the first year. That figure nearly trebled in 2015, with 4,020,000 plants sent out during the busy spring and autumn despatch windows. Expecting strong demand to continue in 2016, Thompson & Morgan is putting more varieties into Garden Ready production with 44 bestselling seasonal bedding varieties now in the range.
Petunia’ Easy Wave’
Despite 94 per cent of customers rating garden ready as value for money, Thompson & Morgan is seeking to make these premium plugs even more economical in 2016 with a range of multi-buy deals. One 30-plant pack retails at £14.99 but three packs can be had for just £35. Customers buying three packs will also receive a £5 voucher for their next Thompson & Morgan purchase. Catering for gardeners working on bigger plots, bumper 120- and 360-plant collections have also been developed, which will take prices down to just 27p per plant for the 2016 season.
Gardeners can take part in Thompson & Morgan’s next big survey for a chance to win a 30 pack of Garden Ready plants, 2 x Easy Fill Hanging Baskets and 25 litres of incredicompost, together worth £45. Five lucky winners will be selected at random from entries received before 31 March 2016.
Visit www.thompson-morgan.com/hanging-basket-survey to take part
Kris Collins works as Thompson & Morgan’s quality control manager, making sure customers new and old are kept up to date on the latest plant developments and company news via a wide range of media sources. He trained in London’s Royal Parks and has spent more than a decade writing for UK gardening publications before joining the team at Thompson & Morgan.
by Kris Collins | Jan 6, 2016 | Expert Update, Flowers, Gardening News, Gardening Posts
2016 – Thompson & Morgan Petunia Parade is here to celebrate a national favourite
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Kris Collins works as Thompson & Morgan’s quality control manager, making sure customers new and old are kept up to date on the latest plant developments and company news via a wide range of media sources. He trained in London’s Royal Parks and has spent more than a decade writing for UK gardening publications before joining the team at Thompson & Morgan.
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