by Sonia Mermagen | May 20, 2019 | Flowers, Gardening News, Gardening Posts
We’re thrilled to announce that the shortlist announced on Sunday afternoon for RHS Chelsea Flower Show’s Plant of the Year, includes six of our entrants. This beats last year’s tally of five plants, two of which went on to be placed first and third places in this hugely prestigious horticultural competition.
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Sonia works at Thompson & Morgan in the role of press and communications officer. She is a self-proclaimed ‘reluctant’ gardener and is generally amazed if anything flourishes in her garden. Sonia has a ‘hands off’ approach to gardening and believes that this helps to encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife. (That’s her excuse anyway!)
by Sonia Mermagen | May 2, 2019 | Flowers, Gardening Posts
Following our success at RHS Chelsea Flower Show last year, we are proud to present our entries for Plant of the Year 2019.
Clematis ‘Kokonoe’, Nepeta ‘Neptune’ and Ajuga ‘Princess Nadia’
Clematis ‘Kokonoe’ – Uniquely changing flower shape; flowers open as single blooms and develop into flamboyant doubles.
Nepeta ‘Neptune’ – Abundant flowers ‘re-bloom’ on a compact, bushy habit; the firm foliage is perfect for making tea.
Ajuga ‘Princess Nadia’ – Brings together the best evergreen, variegated foliage and flower spikes of the genus. Year-round interest.
Agapanthus ‘Fireworks’, Buddleja ‘Butterfly Towers’ and Osteospermum ‘Purple Sun’
Agapanthus ‘Fireworks’ – The best bicolour agapanthus, offering bigger blooms, better colour and more stems per plant than previous bicolour cultivars.
Buddleja ‘Butterfly Towers’ – Grows up, rather than out, so it suits even the smallest garden without taking over. Thrives in containers; long-lasting; makes a great flowering hedge.
Osteospermum ‘Purple Sun’ – Previously unseen colour combination of orange and pink. The pink-purple centre spreads outwards as the season progresses.
Chlorophytum ‘Starlight’ and Clematis ‘Little Lemons’
Chlorophytum ‘Starlight’ – Hardy Spider Plant with the architectural appeal of an ornamental grass and the flowering performance of a bedding plant. Attractive variegated foliage and pretty white flowers. Fabulous in patio pots.
Clematis ‘Little Lemons’ – Very unusual long-flowering, dwarf clematis. Excellent in pots and hanging baskets.
We’re also pleased to formally announce our partnership with Sparsholt College Hampshire on their Behind the Genes garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show next month.
The garden, which is in the Discovery area of the Great Pavilion (Stand GPA154), offers a visually inspiring insight into the processes of plant breeding and explains techniques used to bring about improvements in plant species. Students at Sparsholt College have been involved in the design of the garden and have nurtured the plants that will be featured on the garden to illustrate various key milestones in plant breeding over the years.
T&M has long been at the forefront of plant breeding and can put its name to a number of key breeding breakthroughs over the years, such as Foxglove or Digitalis ‘Illumination Pink’ which won RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year in 2012 and which will feature on the Behind the Genes garden. Also appearing at RHS Chelsea 2019 is last year’s Plant of the Year winner, Hydrangea hybrid Runaway Bride® ‘Snow White’, and the amazing sunflower, Helianthus SunBelievable™ ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ which was placed third.
Part of the focus this year is also on our trainee manager, Lance Russell, who as an alumni of Sparsholt College, and now working at the forefront of the gardening industry, is the epitome of the new generation of inspiring and social media-savvy young gardeners. Lance is fronting our recent increase in film content on our website and YouTube channel and is set for a stellar career in horticulture. Lance can be seen in Thompson & Morgan’s video ‘Journey to Chelsea’.
Sonia works at Thompson & Morgan in the role of press and communications officer. She is a self-proclaimed ‘reluctant’ gardener and is generally amazed if anything flourishes in her garden. Sonia has a ‘hands off’ approach to gardening and believes that this helps to encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife. (That’s her excuse anyway!)
by Sonia Mermagen | Nov 28, 2018 | Gardening News, Gardening Posts
We’ve just donated 100s of packets of flower seeds to local charities, ActivLives and St Elizabeth Hospice. The seeds were left over from a promotion that we ran in conjunction with Garden Answers and Garden News, two magazines published by Bauer Media, who were more than happy for the surplus packets to be donated to Suffolk charities.
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Sonia works at Thompson & Morgan in the role of press and communications officer. She is a self-proclaimed ‘reluctant’ gardener and is generally amazed if anything flourishes in her garden. Sonia has a ‘hands off’ approach to gardening and believes that this helps to encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife. (That’s her excuse anyway!)
by Sonia Mermagen | Oct 8, 2018 | Gardening Posts
Following its success at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May, our fantastic in-house-bred sunflower, SunBelievable™ ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ has won even more awards and accolades. Proving hugely popular in the US, the new sunflower was awarded the Retailers’ Choice Award at the FARWEST Show in Portland, Oregon, as well as the 2018 American Horticultural Retailers’ Choice Award at Cultivate Ohio. In the UK, at the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) National Plant Show, SunBelievable™ took gold in the annuals category, as well as the Best in Category (Annuals) and the Visitor Voted Best in Category (Annuals). The long-flowering sunflower also won the 2018 Four Oaks Trade Show ‘Best Plant Introduction Bedding or Pot Plant’.
Our Head of Horticulture, Paul Masters, commented:
“We’re very proud to have won so many prestigious awards for SunBelievable™ ’Brown Eyed Girl’ both in the UK and abroad. To have gained international recognition for our fabulous sunflower is a great success for Thompson & Morgan.”
With online and catalogue sales topping 100,000 plants in the UK, SunBelievable™ is also proving to be incredibly popular in the USA where it has been well received at all the top trade shows and in trials prior to its retail release in 2019.
“Customer feedback for SunBelievable™’Brown Eyed Girl’ has been extremely positive” says Peter Freeman, our New Product Development Manager. “We’ve been amazed at the plants’ performance this summer – particularly through the heatwave and drought conditions. Those that were planted in the first half of the summer are still flowering now!”
At our Floral Fantasia garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall this summer, at which hundreds of varieties of annuals were on display, SunBelievable™ ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ proved to be the favourite of the majority of the almost 140,000 visitors to the gardens.
Paul Masters also commented that there would be further exciting introductions to come in the SunBelievable™ range. Watch this space!
Sonia works at Thompson & Morgan in the role of press and communications officer. She is a self-proclaimed ‘reluctant’ gardener and is generally amazed if anything flourishes in her garden. Sonia has a ‘hands off’ approach to gardening and believes that this helps to encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife. (That’s her excuse anyway!)
by Sonia Mermagen | Sep 27, 2018 | Gardening News
Left: T&M Flower of the Year Nasturtium ‘Orchid Flame’ Right: Beetroot Morello Photo credit: Thompson & Morgan
New Season
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve seen a strong start to sales from our newly-launched 2019 mail order seed range. Flower of the Year, Nasturtium ‘Orchid Flame’, Beet Morello and Tomato ‘Sweet Success’ are all proving popular with gardeners eager to prepare for next season.
New Retail Ranges
Back in April, we announced partnerships with Mr. Men Little Miss and with the National Trust. Officially launched at the Hampton Court Flower Show, the Mr. Men Little Miss retail seed range is selling well in garden centres and other retail outlets.
Joseph Cordy, our Head of B2B Sales said:
‘We’re so pleased at how well this new range of seeds is being received by the gardening public. Our partnership with one of the best known and loved children’s brands seems to be inspiring gardeners young and old to get growing from seed’.
Left: Mr. Men Little Miss range details from T&M retail brochure Right: National Trust range details from T&M retail brochure Photo credit: Thompson & Morgan
The eagerly anticipated National Trust seed range is due to launch in early October and will be available via a variety of retail channels. Both new seed ranges will continue to grow and develop with exciting plans to add further products to them.
Long Hot Summer
The Floral Fantasia garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall near Chelmsford, has been one of the horticultural highlights of the year. Thompson & Morgan’s display of thousands of bedding plants created an amazingly colourful spectacle which was visited and much admired by many of the over 135,000 visitors to RHS Garden Hyde Hall this summer. Last week, staff from Thompson & Morgan and the RHS cleared the garden as the displays had started to fade from their former glory.
Peter Freeman, our New Product Development Manager, who oversaw the design, planting and maintenance of the Floral Fantasia garden, said:
“We’ve been astounded at the success of the Floral Fantasia garden. The feedback from visitors has been extraordinarily positive. People have commented on the fantastic colour and the sheer quantity of varieties of plant featured in the garden.
The long hot summer was a challenge in many ways, but also meant that the plants filled out and came on quickly to produce the amazing displays that everyone has enjoyed.”
Left: T&M’s Floral Fantasia garden in July Right: View of the garden area following the clear down last week. Photo credit: Thompson & Morgan
Sonia works at Thompson & Morgan in the role of press and communications officer. She is a self-proclaimed ‘reluctant’ gardener and is generally amazed if anything flourishes in her garden. Sonia has a ‘hands off’ approach to gardening and believes that this helps to encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife. (That’s her excuse anyway!)
