by Joy Gough | Oct 7, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
Some things in the garden are now past their best and will need composting or cutting back if I don’t need the seed heads.
I normally have the greenhouses empty by now, but this year the tomatoes are still going strong, so leaving them a little longer.
The patio
The other greenhouse is full of new plants growing on and cuttings which I have rooted for friends, even with plants I can’t normally get to root, so it pays to keep trying.
Greenhouse full of rooted cuttings
The garden is still looking nice with late flowering annuals and perennials, I have just cut these (photo number 4) and can’t believe what is still in flower for October. The roses, over 50 of them, are still flowering and so are the fuchsias.
Glorious fuchsias
The red and orange pyracanthas are laden with berries making a lovely screen at the back of the garden.
The local school children have been using the garden for reading, drawing and playing and are coming back again if the weather stays fine. Some of the comments could only come from children, such as “is the grass real?” and “can I move in?” So hopefully another generation of gardeners in the making.
Cut flowers to brighten up the house
I’ve just found a photo taken in October 2006 and thought you might like to see it, this is what we started with. All good fun.
The garden in 2006
Joy Gough joined Thompson & Morgan’s trials team in 2011 and tests plants and seeds in her own garden in Wiltshire. Learn more about Joy’s gardening journey on the Thompson & Morgan blog.
by Jean Willis | Sep 30, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
A day’s filming with Richard Jackson
I live in Bournemouth which is quite a mild gardening climate, although of course we have had some really bad winters over the last three years with well below temperatures and snow – not usually associated with the south of England. I am just celebrating my 75th birthday and have been gardening for 65 years, first as a child on my Dad’s allotment in Norfolk and then I gradually took over from my Mum in the garden where we lived. For the past year have been recovering from a broken hip, with a lot of help from my husband Alan. Since I retired have spent a lot more time gardening.
I usually use multi-purpose compost and have fed all my plants with Richard Jackson’s Flower Power over the last few years, of course unless ericaeous compost is needed. I live in the middle of three terrace houses with a front and back garden. The front now has decking because the space was originally needed for a caravan and I always use different sized containers, some low, others on a stand. Last year I am thrilled to say I won the Gold Award for the Bournemouth in Bloom Container Garden. Several years ago Thompson & Morgan had a garden photo competition, so I sent a photo in of my container garden and was rewarded with some vouchers and also asked if I would like to trial some Thompson & Morgan plants, which I have been doing ever since.
Richard Jackson has been showing some of my garden photos on QVC gardening for a few years and has been in contact. In January 2013 I was visiting my sister in San Diego, California when I received an email from Richard saying they had been discussing my garden and were talking about coming down to film it if I was agreeable. On the spur of the moment I agreed and then wondered if my garden would be what they were looking for.
Rob the producer contacted me with possible dates, but as the spring was so cold decided that it might be better to delay it until 3rd September. Then of course, we had some hot weather and everything just about caught up. The only preparation I really did was to make sure the plants were deadheaded and the decking kept clear of dropped flower heads and prayed that we didn’t get torrential rain or a gale!!!
Rob and his crew arrived on the afternoon of Monday 2nd September to have a look at the gardens and see where they could set up the camera. At 8 am on 3rd September, a gloriously sunny morning (thank goodness), the crew turned up and set up their camera in the front garden. Richard came in and introduced himself, Alan made them all a cup of tea while everything was sorted. Alan also took lots of photos through the day so I could look back on them later. I have now made the photos into a photobook.
The day involved filming Richard interviewing me about the garden and the flowers I had planted, how they were planted, which were my favourites etc. I can`t say I was nervous, which is unlike me, but I think they all put me at ease and nothing was too much trouble. Not even when a neighbour decided to get the hose out and wash his van, which of course was picked up by the sound engineer but taken in good humour. It was being filmed for a new QVC gardening programme with Richard Jackson called Gardening Inspirations, which is due to go out in May 2014.
Rob went to buy sandwiches, cream cakes, ice creams and drinks for lunch and as it had turned out a very hot day we all ate lunch in the lounge where it was cooler.
During the afternoon we were filmed on a bench in the back garden talking about hints and tips and they filmed me deadheading a hanging basket and feeding another, also Richard and me walking down the path.
Richard and the crew left around 2:30 pm after what I can honestly say was a great experience… and lots of laughs which certainly made for a different sort of a day.
I started gardening 65 years ago on my Dad’s allotment and now live in Bournemouth, where spend a lot of time gardening since retiring. In 2012 I won the Gold Award for Bournemouth in Bloom Container Garden. I am a member of Thompson & Morgan’s customer trial panel.
by Joy Gough | Sep 18, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
What a fabulous year I’ve had with T&M plants, as you might be aware we open for the National Garden Scheme and by appointment anytime between May and September, which keeps us on our toes, meeting likewise gardeners and having time for tea and cake.
A lot of the visitors have commented on the trial plants and where can they get them, so Thompson & Morgan gets mentioned a lot. Next year I am putting up a sign explaining what I am doing, and any T&M trial plant will have a special label on, it will save me explaining it to hundreds of visitors.
Bumper crops and fabulous flowers
Bumper crops of tomato Alicante and Gardener’s Delight, and Cucumber Zeina, so much so, I have given lots to family and friends when they come round – some who don’t normally eat cucumbers because of indigestion which they said they didn’t have with Zeina.
Cucumber Zeina
The mini greenhouse cloches have been invaluable all through the season, and are still in use now for cuttings. Even though another second-hand greenhouse was put up in March.
Fuchsia ‘Duke of Wellington’ with its purple and dark pink flowers hanging down have been flowering for months now.
Fuchsia ‘Duke of Wellington’
Clematis ‘Twinkle Bell’ has gorgeous bell shaped yellow flowers which hang down in rows and just keep on flowering.
Clematis repens or ‘Twinkle Bell’
Joy Gough joined Thompson & Morgan’s trials team in 2011 and tests plants and seeds in her own garden in Wiltshire. Learn more about Joy’s gardening journey on the Thompson & Morgan blog.
by Geoff Stonebanks | Sep 3, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
Well, since I wrote my first blog back in March this year it’s been a very busy summer at Driftwood, both from a visitor and from a Thompson & Morgan trial perspective! We have opened the garden 17 times this summer, 10 garden openings and 7 for a local art festival, Artwave! During that time we have seen an amazing 2800 visitors see this tiny plot on the south coast!
Photo of Driftwood taken by Russell Sach
Not only did it feature in The Mail on Sunday back in June (photo above and one below of me taken by Mail photographer Russell Sach) but was also the featured garden in Sussex Life magazine in July. However the icing on the cake has been the £31000 raised for charity over the last 4 years and £12500 of that in 2013 alone!
Photo of me taken by Russell Sach
Thompson & Morgan have sent me a whole raft of plants this summer but some were not as successful as others in my crammed coastal plot. Back in August, T&M’s New Product Development Manager, Michael Perry and photographer Helen came to see how some of the trial plants were doing in my exposed garden.
With Michael Perry
These are some of my personal favourites that I would heartily recommend as they have really done well and received lots of comments from visitors! Some that looked amazing at the time of Michael’s visit were the Peruvian tree lily, alstroemeria ‘Everest Collection’ a hardy Perennial, new for 2013. The plugs arrived in April and as promised on the pack, created a floral sculpture on the patio as shown. Support was advised and I used 2 large semicircular rusted frames and ended up with this most impressive display.
Alstroemeria ‘Everest Collection’
Meanwhile, the half-hardy dahlia “Fire & Ice” that arrived in March provided these beautiful red and white striped blooms with a bright golden eye that really livened up the garden, recommended for borders but due to lack of space, mine went in to a pot and still looked amazing.
Dahlia ‘Fire and Ice’
A third plant that was still looking great for their visit was the wild carnation, dianthus picotee with its beautiful red edged petals! A beautiful flower that Michael missed was the outstanding tree lily ‘Leopard Lion Heart’, received in May and flowering in mid July. Three very erect stems were produced that generated over 30 blooms! Amazing!
Dianthus ‘Picotee’
Tree Lily ‘Leopard Lion Heart’
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The gorgeous pelargonium, rosebud geranium, ‘Pink Sybil’, that arrived on the 25th April has looked divine throughout the summer, as has the delicate foxglove ‘Dalmatian Peach’, (digitalis purpurea, a hardy biennial) with exquisite peachy trumpets that arrived on the 15th March. The unusual colour makes this statuesque foxglove particularly eye-catching in cottage gardens and woodland borders, mine however is surplanted beneath a thinning escalonia.
Rosebud geranium ‘Pink Sybil’
Foxglove ‘Dalmatian Peach’
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Just starting to flower and form fruit is the lovely physalis Golden Berry also known as the Cape gooseberry. It is an exciting addition to the kitchen garden with tall, bushy plants producing these golden berries enclosed in attractive papery cases, similar to Chinese lanterns. The berries, which are produced from early autumn, are similar to a ripe cherry tomato in texture and the flavour is sweet but tart, perfect in fruit salads, jams or as an eye-catching garnish! Physalis peruviana is half-hardy so is normally grown as an annual plant in the UK. Due to lack of space though, and not having a kitchen garden, I have had to put mine in the borders but they still look great!
Physalis
So all the above are trial plants received from Thompson & Morgan but I have also bought some myself to add to the garden! I purchased a new twist on a much-loved garden favourite, ‘Buzz’™, which is the world’s first patio buddleja! These attractive, compact plants are loved by bees and butterflies, (of which there have been many in the garden this summer) but won’t take over the garden. Buddleja ‘Buzz’™ is easy to grow and problem-free, believe me, with a super long-flowering period. Perfectly proportioned for patio pots and smaller gardens. Mine have looked stunning this summer, two in containers and one in the ground.
Buddleja ‘Buzz’™
Another purchase this year has been the foxglove ‘Illumination Pink’ digitalis, a half-hardy perennial. You can see how beautiful it has been in the garden this summer and unlike most foxgloves which are generally biennial, this half-hardy semi-evergreen is a true perennial so I will be able to enjoy its flowers for years to come.
Foxglove ‘Illumination Pink’
Finally another plant I have been really pleased with is this althaea which came from Thompson & Morgan. There were 3 plants and they all look amazing in the garden, the beautiful delicate flowers have been much commented on!
Althaea or hollyhock
It has been an extremely interesting year in the garden with the openings, art festival and trialling the many plants from Thompson & Morgan, something I hope to be doing again next year! Full details on all the plants I have trialled in 2013 can be found on my web site page www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk/T&M.html
Geoff Stonebanks was very lucky to be able to retire early from 30 years in Royal Mail back in 2004. He had 3 different careers with them first as a caterer, then manager of a financial analysis team and finally as an Employee Relations Manager and Personnel Manager. He sold up and moved with his partner to Bishopstone, near Seaford in East Sussex in 2004 and now spends all his time gardening and fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support. Using his multi award-winning garden, featured on Gardeners’ World on BBC TV and finalist in Gardeners’ World Magazine Garden of the Year 2016, he’s raised £164,500 for various charities in 12 years, £109,000 of that for Macmillan. In his spare time, he is also Publicity Officer for the National Garden Scheme in East & Mid Sussex. In 2023, Geoff was also crowned one of the 500 Coronation Champions.
by Shirley Reynolds | Aug 5, 2013 | Customer Trial Panel
Hello all you happy gardeners!
Well we’ve all had some fab weather and doesn’t it show in the gardens? The flowers and veg like to feel the warmth on them.
I just had to tell you all about the pea Alexandra I have grown as part of the Thompson & Morgan trials.
I only have a small garden and I couldn’t plant the whole packet (300 seeds), so only planted 30, all at once. I did start them off in pots first, as the weather was too cold and the soil was still frozen.
On April 12th I planted them in garden. In fact, where they are planted used to be my small lawn! I had to dig it well and added the compost from my compost bin and even forked in some of the overwintered pot compost. I had to cover the plants with a cloche to keep the rain off…yes buckets of it!
By May 24th they were growing tall and very healthy looking, so I put a support of wire mesh over them, 2′ high as they grow to 18″. On June 18th I arrived back from holiday and the plants were all lying down and clinging together, looking a mess, so after separating them (that was a job!) I put up 4′ canes and made a frame for support. By this time all the plants had lots of flowers.
Me with the tall pea plants!
Pea Alexandra – a close-up shot
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Just 6 days later I had to put in 6′ canes! The pea plants were now ranging from 3’10 to 5′ with pods appearing.
Hundreds of pods!
By June 30th pods now were 4″ plus, growing all up the stem, not just on the tops.
Long pea pods
July 6th… my first boiling, yum! Many of the pods had 8 to 10 peas in. From just 28 pods I reaped 200 peas. And yes, I had the patience to count them! Wow, they were so sweet.
Pea harvest
Juicy sweet peas
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These Alexandra peas are just amazing. I had no mould or little critters eating away at them, they just looked so amazingly healthy. The total weight of all pea pods was 3.5kg. I didn’t feed them (apart from the compost I added after I’d dug up the lawn), just made sure they were well watered, even twice a day when it was really hot. They just grew and grew and were the talking point of all who visited. I’ll certainly grow them again.
A note from Colin Randel, Thompson & Morgan’s vegetable product manager: “Peas, French and broad beans generally make considerably taller plants in wet seasons and cloudy, cold conditions. Adding compost or manure underneath would even increase the height by a good 12″. But I wouldn’t have expected them to grow to 5′ or more!”
Another of our trial panel members also reported a massive crop of peas and said “My peas have done very well too. Mine are not quite as tall as Shirley’s, but they are smothered in peas and I have to say that they are the sweetest peas I have grown.”
Plants smothered in the sweetest peas
Shirley Reynolds is a member of Thompson & Morgan’s trial panel and loves spending time in her garden. Shirley is a big fan of container gardening and has recently dug up her lawn to grow more vegetables!
