by Sonia Mermagen | Nov 22, 2016 | Gardening News, Gardening Posts, T&M's Giant Pumpkin, Your Stories
Matthew Oliver, of RHS Hyde Hall, rows hollowed-out UK record-breaking pumpkin in daring stunt
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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 | Nov 18, 2016 | Christmas gifts, Expert Update, Flowers, Gardening Posts, Perennials, Winter gardening
Say Happy Christmas with Hyacinths; the nation’s favourite festive floral display
Read about the bloody origins of the UK’s favourite Christmas plant
For the 10th year in a row, Thompson & Morgan, the UK’s largest online plant retailer, is announcing that the scented hyacinth will be the Christmas Number One.
Early sales analysis of T&M’s seasonal gift catalogue shows that whilst sales of traditional Christmas plants such as amaryllis and poinsettia continue to rise steadily, the runaway favourites are the hyacinths. This is despite a number of brand-new additions to the Thompson & Morgan top 10 Christmas sellers for 2016, such as a stunning white Princettia® ‘Pure White’ and a spectacular new variegated Poinsettia.
Hyacinth ‘Pink Pearl’ & Hyacinth ‘Woodstock’ Christmas Gifts
Not everyone is aware of the bloody origins of the nation’s favourite bulbs. An ancient legend describes how two of the Greek gods, Apollo and Zephyr, admired a handsome young Greek man called Hyakinthos. When Zephyr, the god of the west wind, saw that Apollo was teaching Hyakinthos how to throw a discus, he became so jealous that he blew the discus back at the young man. It hit him in the head and killed him. The legend says that a flower grew from his blood and that Apollo, the god of the sun, named it after him.
Whilst many will remember with nostalgia keeping their hyacinth bulbs in the dark warmth of the airing cupboard to encourage them to flower earlier than nature intended, these days storage methods are more modern. Bulbs are stored in warm conditions, usually from July to August, then potted up and put back into a growing room under very specific conditions of humidity and temperature until they are ready to be dispatched. This means that the bulbs are fully ‘forced’ and ready to burst into flower just in time for the Christmas period, giving the gift of spring during the cold and gloomy winter months when it’s most needed.
Amaryllis ‘Amadeus’ & Long-lasting Hibiscus ‘Festive Flair’
Scented Hyacinth ‘Pink Pearl’ has been on T&M’s Christmas gift best seller list ever since the mail order specialist, best known as the UK’s premier mail order supplier of seeds and plants, launched its Christmas gift lines back in 1999. Thompson & Morgan Gifts Manager, Alice Speedie says: “While we’re seeing increased interest in new exotics like hibiscus and Dendrobium orchids for Christmas display, it seems you can’t beat a bit of yuletide tradition. We supply our hyacinths in bespoke containers, and give them the VIP treatment in order to guarantee quick colour and scent soon after delivery.”
Christmas gift plants such as hyacinths are great value; after enjoying them for several weeks in the house over the festive period, the bulbs can be planted out in the garden and enjoyed in springtime for years to come. They truly are gifts that keep on giving!
For tips on how to prolong the life of your indoor Christmas plants, go to www.thompson-morgan.com/bloomforlonger
Luxury Handmade Chocolate Box & Classic minlight Candles
Thompson & Morgan’s Christmas gifts catalogue offers a huge array of indoor and outdoor plants, festive cut flowers, ‘gifts for him’ and ‘gifts for her’ which include scented candles and chocolates. All items are delivered direct to friends and family if preferred, and are all presented in gift wrapping or decorative pots with a personalised gift message, providing stress-free Christmas shopping from the comfort of home with no need to hit the high street. If you are a last minute shopper, you can place orders right up until 9am on Tuesday 20th December for guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas.
For a catalogue call 0844 573 1818 or view the range online at www.thompson-morgan.com/christmas-gifts
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 | Jan 7, 2014 | Gardening News
Is the cauliflower, the most under-appreciated member of the brassica family, making a comeback?
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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 17, 2013 | Fruit
Hey, look what I grew! Ok, so it doesn’t look like much, but these are the first few blueberries from my blueberry plant. I had them on my cereal and although they weren’t huge, they were really sweet and all the more delicious because I grew them myself! And frankly, if I can grow blueberries, then anyone can.
Breakfast blueberries!
Let me be clear; I’m not really a gardener. I don’t have the time to nurture my plants; I tend to just stick them in a pot or in a spare place in one of my rather weedy beds, and hope for the best.
However, on the advice of my mum (she’s a proper gardener), I wrapped my blueberry plant in some voile netting that I had left over from making a fancy dress outfit for my daughter in an attempt to keep the birds off any blueberries that might appear. They were probably put off as much by the ghoulish appearance of the bush as the inaccessiblity of the growing berries!
That’s a fine mesh you’ve got us into…
I simply draped the material around the bush and secured it with some clothes pegs – nothing fancy or remotely expensive or scientific. But it seemed to do the trick!
Voile netting and clothes pegs – the perfect bird deterrent
I started to notice that there were some blueberries on the plant towards the end of the summer and because of the hot weather, I did actually make sure that I watered the plant fairly regularly. I’d read on the Thompson & Morgan website that it was important to water blueberry plants near cropping time as it helps to ‘plump the berries’.
I’ve only got one plant so I haven’t had an enormous crop, but I can’t tell you what a pleasure it’s been to wander up the garden in the morning to pick a handful of delicious blueberries to have on my morning cereal. And the fact that they’re home-grown really does make them taste sweeter!
Plump, juicy blueberries
Want to be like Sonia and grow your own blueberries? Discover blueberry growing tips and tricks over at our hub page.
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!)
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