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.
Our 2014 plant trials produced some surprising results for our Petunias. Weather conditions really put them to the test with a frustrating mix of heat waves and summer storms but, they didn’t fail to impress.
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
This week’s been a real challenge on the allotment. Not only have we had some lovely sunny afternoons up here in Sheffield, but we’ve also had frost, rain and wind. LOTS of wind. Luckily, my greenhouse and shed are still standing. I can’t say the same for some of my fellow plot holders, in fact there is a pile of metal and plastic on one plot, it used to be a poly tunnel!
Winner of BBC2’s Big Allotment Challenge, Rob Smith writes for Thompson & Morgan providing practical growing tips from his allotment. A gardening columnist and kitchen gardener, Rob’s debut book ‘Grow to Eat: Growing Colourful And Tasty Vegetables From Seed’ is due to be released in March 2024.
Drivers, walkers and river users around Ipswich are set for a brighter journey this spring. Marking 160 years at the forefront of mail order supply to home gardeners, we have dressed the iconic Orwell Bridge with a 2.4km long display of spring hanging baskets. Counting off the years we have been trading in Ipswich, 160 hanging baskets have been set along each side of the bridge, creating two 1,237m swathes of dazzling spring colour above the River Orwell.
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.
The words ‘national gardening week’ spark so much excitement and ideas in my mind. National days have somewhat become a novelty, It is always national something. National flower day, national spinach day, and something totally un-gardening related national puppy day! Therefore as a gardener I welcome this national event with open arms. A celebration of everything that I love and adore, gardening!
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
Hello Everyone,
When I started this blog in January, I promised you the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, this month is the bad and the ugly. Things had been running smoothly. The frame of the greenhouse was completed, the window vents installed, the soil was on order and the seeds were germinating on the kitchen windowsill and in the smaller greenhouse. Then I went and caught viral labyrhinitis. A middle ear infection that makes the world spin round, and not just a little bit either, three solid days of not been able to stop the movement. It’s impossible to do even the most simplest of tasks such as get out of bed without falling. I can’t walk to the bathroom without help and I can’t even read as a tiny bit of eye movement makes it 100% worse.
My name is Amanda and I live in Pembrokeshire with my fiancé and our garden is approximately 116 meters square. I want to share with you my love for gardening and the reasons behind it, from the good to the bad and ugly. I want to do this for my own personal pleasure. If you would like to take the journey with me then please read my blogs and share with me your gardening stories.
I think Polyanthus Firecracker is well-named–its’ flowers really create a crackling, fiery red and yellow contrast. Each plant has flowers with slightly different markings and petal ‘frilliness’. Firecrackers hail from China and were used to frighten away evil spirits. Well this exciting and attractive plant must be effective as it has only encouraged positive comments from passers-by.
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.
Today we celebrate our 160th birthday! We began in a small garden behind a bakers shop in Ipswich, tended by William Thompson, the baker’s son. From the back garden we moved to a nursery at the edge of Ipswich and then to an even larger one!
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.
Summer is traditionally seen as the season for fragrance in our gardens. However with careful planning, you can enjoy wonderful scented flowers in your garden from spring, through summer and autumn and on into winter with our selection of plants for fragrance.
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
The trick to success with chilli sowing is to keep it simple. I’ve tried all sorts of sowing methods, from expanding coir pellets and thermostatic controlled propagators to expensive home hydroponic systems – but what method has given me quick high-yielding results this season?
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.
With all the crocus and daffodils popping their little heads through the soil, it gets me thinking about my plan on what to grow in the coming season on the allotment. Even though this plan changes and develops beyond recognition, as the year goes on I still use it as my rough guide.
When I first started planting veg I would religiously check the information on the back of the seed packet to make sure I was planting and sowing correctly. However, I found that as time went on, I was planting out way too early and was caught out by late frost on more than one occasion (once bitten, twice shy as the saying goes). Experience has taught me to relax and hold back with the sowing. I’ve just started sowing chilli seeds because germination of some varieties can be roughly six weeks (I get so impatient with these). My hubby and sons are chilli maniacs so I always end up growing too many varieties in the pursuit of heat and flavour balance. This year we are growing Black Olive, Lemon Drop and Chocolate Naga, but I’m sure the list will grow bigger as time goes on. I was also given some Spanish Padron chillies by my good twitter friend, this has sparked a friendly chilli race involving myself and a few others. We have all sown at different times and used different methods so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. Mine are only just starting to develop they took roughly four weeks, I’ve had them sitting on the window sill as my greenhouse isn’t heated, once the temperature evens out I shall transfer them.
The temperature today in the greenhouse reached 81 degrees but dips massively at night still. I’ve also sown tomatoes. I’ve chosen Tomato Tigeralla, Tomato Choc Cherry, Tomato Romello and my favourite is Sungold and Shirley, these are easy to grow and the Sungold are amazingly sweet. I would highly recommend these if you haven’t tried them before. I use tomatillos for salsa, they grow with a papery casing, once fully grown peal the casing back and the tomatillo will be inside. I’m growing the green variety but you can also get the black variety. When using these for cooking make sure you thoroughly rush them as they have a sticky substance which covers them that is really bitter and awful.
You still have time to plant out your garlic if you haven’t already done so (garlic is best planted between November and April) and also get your onion sets in. I planted Stuttgart white onions and red onions, just make sure you make a small hole with your dibber first as you don’t want to damage the root. Onions need to be planted roughly 4 inches apart and in rows 12 inches apart, from mid-March to mid-April. They don’t need to be planted very deep, just so the tops are showing. You may find the birds occasionally pull the odd one up, it’s not a problem just gently poke it back in and it will be fine. Before planting just check that all your onions are healthy, there is no mould etc. By now I should imagine you have your potatoes chitting, there has been some debate in recent years whether to chit or not (what does chitting mean?) Chitting is basically another work for sprouting, what you do when you chit your seed potatoes is basically to speed up the aging process of the potato by exposing it to light and more importantly a bit of warmth, this will cause the eyes of the seed potato to start sprouting. The sprouts should be small, nobly and green and purple in colour. If you end up with long white coloured sprouts it means there’s not enough light.
Hi my name is Michelle, I was a contestant on BBC2 big allotment challenge 2014, and also BBC1 allotment wars. I have my own allotment and have done for 5 years now, so I will be discussing all things allotments from locating to preparing with you.