Thompson & Morgan Gardening Blog

Our gardening blog covers a wide variety of topics, including fruit, vegetable and tree stories. Read some of the top gardening stories right here.

Propagation, planting out and cultivation posts from writers that know their subjects well.

Light up your garden with yellow: the colour of the year

Arum 'Gold Label' from T&M
Add a sunny pop of colour to your garden with yellow flowers
Image: Arum ‘Gold Label’ from T&M

The colour of 2021, Pantone ‘Illuminating’ is a warm and vibrant yellow that brings with it the promise of better times. And what better way to celebrate our hope and optimism for the future than by planning a bright new colour scheme for our precious outdoor space? 

Best used as an accent colour, it’s incredibly easy to incorporate a sunny pop of yellow into your garden. Here are 6 of Thompson & Morgan’s favourite yellow plants and flowers to brighten up the year ahead. 

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Vibrant veg growing blogs

Basket full of fresh veg

Take some tips from these amazing bloggers about growing veg!
Image: Shutterstock

If growing veg is your thing, you’ll love our selection of some of the best vibrant veg growing blogs around. From ingenious folk who garden the smallest of plots, to budding self-sufficiency enthusiasts and smallholders, here we present some of the very best online diaries from the most prolific and knowledgeable gardeners you’ll find anywhere.

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The 12 Days of Christmas: A Horticultural Conundrum

As I continue to expand my knowledge of the world and what grows in it, some observations have caught me unawares. I, perhaps foolishly, have started to question basic concepts and precepts that have always been a part of my lived experience through this lens.

Take Christmas carols for example.  I was listening to the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ when, like a shock, something struck me as odd.  On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a ‘Partridge in a Pear tree’. 

Now first, I’ve always assumed that the partridge was living. You wouldn’t give someone taxidermy for Christmas, would you? An initial search online revealed that there were three centuries of the history of taxidermy to explore, but I thought this particular rabbit hole was too much of a detour, so I continued my reflections.

The carol never makes it explicitly clear whether the partridge was alive or stuffed, and as I’ve always presumed it’s a lovely live Partridge, in a golden cage, or perhaps silver, something festive anyway, given the season, nestled amongst the leafy green… wait a minute.  It’s December isn’t it? The first day of Christmas.  Pear trees are deciduous!  How could it have leaves??

Am I to understand this gift of a partridge in a sparkly cage is clinging to the skeletal form of a well, let’s see, presumably a variety of Pyrus communis … Conference pear?  Concorde? 

pear tree

Or is the origin of the carol referring to gift-giving in sunnier climes?  Australia? Southern Florida? Tenerife?  Further investigation – and why not, now that I have this silly idea in my head – leads me to discover that the song was actually first published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, though thought to be French in origin. The standard tune now associated with the carol is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin. 

Okay, so that blows the warm climate origin theory. They didn’t have plant passports the way we do today in the late 19th and early twentieth century, so I’m going to go with greenhouse cultivation. Okay Alice – now we’re going to follow you down this particular rabbit hole. 

History shows us that the first true greenhouse, called ‘the botanical garden’, was built in Italy, in the 13th century. A protected space where plants and trees could grow regardless of the climate and the time of year?  What a fantastic idea! It was so attractive that it quickly spread all over Europe, first to the Netherlands and then to England and France.

Developments throughout the 17th century wrestled with the problem of maintaining constant heat and ventilation, working to develop angled glass walls and heating flues. Up until the 19th century, greenhouses, or conservatories, as they were then called, were a symbol of prestige for the rich and powerful.  

In the 19th century public conservatories became popular places in which to study plant life and botany. The world-famous Crystal Palace, built in 1851 in Hyde Park in London to house the Great Exhibition, ran to 1,848 feet long by 456 feet wide.  Its cast-iron and glass structure was made of 900,000 square feet of glass and had full-size mature elm trees growing inside it. What an incredible sight that must have been.

greenhouse

Only a few short years before the extraordinary achievement of the Crystal Palace, the Glass tax was abolished in 1845.  Introduced in 1745, this punitive tax sought to exploit the wealthy by making glass a taxable luxury item.  Three years later plate glass was invented, and not long after that the Window tax was also abolished.  The cost of glass fell, and with new innovations, and at a more affordable cost, greenhouses began to become increasingly popular in the latter half of the century. 

By 1909, with music by Frederic Austin, it would have been perfectly reasonable to receive – though still an extravagance – the gift of a partridge in a pear tree, in December, as sung in the carol that we still enjoy today, thanks to the invention of the greenhouse!  

Inspiring indoor gardening blogs

houseplant feature image

Take advice from these expert houseplant bloggers
Image: Houseplant ‘Urban Jungle’ Collection from T&M

Growing indoor plants is fun, rewarding and even good for your health. House plants purify the air, help counteract mould and fungi, and the sight of foliage and flowers in the midst of winter is a great morale booster. 

To help you get started on your indoor gardening adventure, we’ve scoured the web for some of the best indoor gardening blogs. Here are expert hints and tips to help you create your own indoor oasis, plus new ideas for what to plant and how to propagate.

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Our Spring 2021 Top 10 Preview!

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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How to grow tulips

Orange and yellow bloomed Tulip ‘Dafeng'

Image: Tulip ‘Dafeng’ from T&M

One of the most spectacular spring-flowering bulbs, tulips dazzle the post-winter garden with their bright blooms. Plant these hardy bulbs in beds, borders and containers for a joyful burst of colour and fragrance come spring.

From delicate native varieties to scented giants, browse our full collection of tulip bulbs here. When you’ve made your choice, here’s everything you need to know about growing them.

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Gift guide: Houseplants to celebrate the spirit of Christmas

Red azalea hoop from T&M

Adorn your mantlepiece with stunning Christmas gifts from Thompson & Morgan
Image source: Thompson & Morgan

Christmas is a time to be thankful and show people you care – whether it’s through the exchange of thoughtful gifts, spending time together, or taking a moment to catch up on news. 

And what better way to spread goodwill than with the surprise delivery of a festive houseplant? These eco-friendly gifts can be easily ordered from home, and will continue to give pleasure long after the tinsel has been returned to the loft. Here are five cracking choices from T&M’s Christmas gift selection

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Grow your own meals – these 11 Instagrammers will show you how

Freshly harvested veg box

These Instagrammers provide plenty of new serving suggestions for homegrown produce
Image: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Food delivered straight from plot to plate is the freshest, healthiest and most delicious food you’ll ever eat. With an allotment, veg patch, or even just a couple of window boxes, you can grow your own meals and live your version of the good life. 

Whether you’re just starting out, or a seasoned plot-to-plater, here are eleven excellent Instagrammers you’ll want to follow.

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Blogs to inspire you to grow your own

Beginner or experienced veg grower? Sharing tips helps produce bumper crops
Image: Shutterstock

Food you grow yourself is fresh, healthy, and nutritious, but if you’re new to gardening, it’s not always easy to know where to start. If you’re wondering whether you have the space or the knowhow to grow your own, here’s the inspiration you need. And if you’re looking for new fruit and veg to try, or you’re not sure what went wrong with a recent crop, try following some of these helpful grow-your-own blogs…. 

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Best plants and flowers for winter colour

Winter garden scene pathway

There’s a huge choice of plants to bring your winter garden to life
Image: Andrew Fletcher/shutterstock

Create a garden full of colour, scent and interest this winter! Here’s our pick of the flowers, climbers, winter bedding plants and shrubs to help you to enjoy an all-year-round display and raise your spirits through the colder months. Looking for a little drama once the leaves have dropped? Here’s what to plant for a bright and colourful winter wonderland…

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