Compact bushy fuchsias look fantastic planted in patio containers
Image: Fuchsia ‘Swingtime’ from Thompson & Morgan

Longtime fuchsia enthusiast Carol Gubler explains here how to pinch out your fuchsia plants to control flowering time, grow bushier plants, and kickstart extravagant blooming. Carol draws from a lifetime of experience with these fabulous flowers to create excellent tips and advice you can trust. Don’t miss the video demonstration below too!

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Carol Gubler

My family first got the fuchsia bug in 1963 when my late father stopped to admire the plants growing in a neighbour’s garden – they were fuchsias and he was hooked! Gradually the garden was overtaken by fuchsias – and in 1979 we moved as a family to a little village near Guildford, where to this day I grow lots of fuchsias (about 500 different types!)

I am Assistant Secretary of The British Fuchsia Society and involved in anything and everything to do with fuchsias!

The T&M team, ActivLives’ gardeners and station manager Jackie at Ipswich Train Station

Colour has returned to Ipswich and Stowmarket train stations thanks to a partnership between train operator Abellio Greater Anglia, local seed and plant specialist Thompson & Morgan and Ipswich-based charity ActivLives.

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Kris Collins

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.

Standard fuchsias such as ‘Angela’ adds height & colour to your garden.
Image: Thompson & Morgan

Growing a fuchsia standard is a great way to show off these elegant, jewel-coloured flowers while adding height and colour to your border. Also ideal for containers, standard fuchsias make a statement on your patio, balcony or positioned either side of your front door. Here’s how to train your own fuchsia plants into striking standards.

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Sue Sanderson

Plants and gardens have always been a big part of my life. I can remember helping my Dad to prick out seedlings, even before I could see over the top of the potting bench. As an adult, I trained at Writtle College where I received my degree, BSc. (Hons) Horticulture. After working in a specialist plantsman’s nursery, and later, as a consulting arboriculturalist, I joined Thompson & Morgan in 2008. Initially looking after the grounds and coordinating the plant trials, I now support the web team offering horticultural advice online. I have a keen interest in drought resistant plants and a passion for perennials, particularly hardy Geraniums. I previously stood as regional secretary for the International Plant Propagation Society which gave me lots of opportunities to see what other horticulturalists were up to in their nurseries and gardens.

Begonia ‘Frivola Pink’ looks great in beds, borders, or in patio containers
Image: Thompson & Morgan

If you enjoyed watching ‘The Great British Garden Revival’ then you’ll be aware of Christine Walkden’s passionate campaign to bring back ornamental bedding plants. The magnificent displays often seen at grand country houses like Waddesdon Manor and seaside towns like Eastbourne are still incredibly popular.

Descended from the Victorians’ love of the art of ornamental bedding, these “eye-catching displays were the gardening ‘bling’ of yesteryear,” explained Christine. Here’s how to stage your own mini-revival, using the latest cutting-edge bedding plants bred for size, colour, disease-resistance and longevity.

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Rebecca Tute

Rebecca works in the Marketing department as part of the busy web team, focusing on updating the UK news and blog pages and Thompson & Morgan’s international website. Rebecca enjoys gardening and learning about flowers and growing vegetables with her young daughter.

Thompson & Morgan Lead the Way this Season with their Spring 2021 Top 10 Preview!

Thompson & Morgan introduce their top 10 new varieties which represent the best of the best this spring. Here you will find exciting World and UK Exclusives, stunning breakthroughs in breeding developed under T&M’s own breeding programme, as well as award winning varieties, much improved customer favourites and those stand out varieties set to be this season’s must have plants for this year’s spring garden.

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Thompson & Morgan

The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.

Thompson & Morgan’s new spring catalogues are in and will soon be winging their way to gardeners up and down the UK. The full spring range is now available online at www.thompson-morgan.com and offers the horticultural mail order company’s customers a huge choice of plants and gardening equipment.

Vicky Ager, T&M’s head of direct sales said:

“We’re really pleased with the fabulous range of plants that we’re offering gardeners for 2020. Our horticultural team have excelled themselves in searching out the very best plant varieties for our customers to grow next year.”

Catalogues will be coming through customers’ letterboxes in the New Year. Anyone who does not receive our catalogues can request them via our website.

We’ve been refreshing our website with an updated colour scheme and improved functionality to create a seamless customer experience across the brand.

Holly Taylor, T&M’s online manager commented:

“With over 17 million recorded customer visits this year, our website plays a huge part in our business. We think the new look website will appeal to our customers – and we’ll be adding some more features in the new year.”

The website isn’t the only area that has had a makeover. Well-known stalwart of the potting shed and gardeners’ favourite, Chempak, has been rebranded.

“The Chempak plant food range is highly respected by many gardeners and has a long-standing reputation for quality and successful results; we thought it only good and proper to bring its branding up to date.”

said Joseph Cordy, Thompson & Morgan’s head of B2B.

Look out for the new packs in garden centres and here on our website. Gardeners can find out which Chempak product is best for their plants’ needs in this article https://www.thompson-morgan.com/chempak-fertiliser-guide

Sonia Mermagen

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!)

www.thompson-morgan.com