Varieties to beat weather extremes and with better disease resistance
If your annuals struggled last year due to the heat and drought, Thompson & Morgan has revealed its new bedding plants for 2023, which includes plants with extreme weather tolerance. They also have bigger blooms and improved disease resistance.
These are the highlights – the Granvia is my favourite – view the full range on the T&M website.
New bedding plants – Granvia® Giant Flowered Collection (Xerochrysum bracteatum)
Granvia® Giant Flowered Collection plants are hybrids with much bigger flowers than other varieties. The collection features blooms in new, ultra-bright colours, including bi-colours. The shiny petals reflect the light, so the blooms look even larger than they are.
The flowers have a paper-like texture, making them long-lasting and weather resistant, tolerating both drought and cold weather. Plants will flower into November if the conditions are right! The blooms are borne on well-proportioned plants. Height and spread: 50cm, ideal for pots or borders.
Included in each pack are Red Flame, Dark Pink Flame, Pink Flame, Gold, Dark Orange Flame and Red Orange Flame. Buy in either packs of 6 Jumbo Plug Plants (1 of each variety) or 12, from £18.99.
Petunia Sky Mix (with Night Sky)
Sky Mix represents a breakthrough in Petunia breeding, with petals featuring speckles and splashes against richly-coloured backgrounds, mimicking a night sky. The large, weather-resistant blooms are carried on semi-trailing, compact plants just 30cm high. Ideal for patio pots and hanging baskets, blooming from June to October.
The mix contains four varieties, including the multi-award-winning Night Sky. It won a Fleurostar award and an RHS Award of Garden Merit, with white speckles on a deep velvety purple-blue backdrop. Other varieties are Lightning Sky, Lavender Sky and Circus Sky.
You can buy 8 or 12 Postiplug Plants, from £14.99.
New bedding plants – Lobelia Rift Duo (Lobelia erinus)
The Rift series represents a landmark in Lobelia breeding, featuring variegated bicolours in blue, purple and white. Stunning close up or from a distance, these mounded, bushy plants of 20-30cm look great in containers and hanging baskets. Tolerant of summer heat, plants produce masses of flowers from June to September.
The duo is made up of Rift Purple and Rift Blue. Buy 6 or 12 Postiplug Plants from £9.99.
impatiens Glimmer™ Collection (I. walleriana)
The Glimmer™ Collection contains six stunning shades of disease-resistant Impatiens walleriana, with double blooms suitable for sun or dappled shade. Glimmer™ is a new and award-winning range of double-flowered Busy Lizzie. They’re the only series of double Impatiens that are highly resistant to downy mildew. Rose-like double blooms in a beautiful array of colours are borne from May to September on bushy, mounding plants reaching 40cm tall with a spread of 30cm.
The collection contains Glimmer Appleblossom (awarded Best New Annual and Best In Show at the HTA National Plant Show 2022. Other varieties; Glimmer Bright Red, Glimmer White, Glimmer Hot Pink, Glimmer Burgundy and Glimmer Salmon.
Buy 6 Postiplug Plants (1 of each variety) or 12 (2 of each variety) from £9.99.
New bedding plants – SUNPATIENS® Candy Collection (Impatiens x hybrida)
The SUNPATIENS® series are heat- and drought-tolerant, early flowering, long-blooming and disease resistant, thriving anywhere in the garden. The red, purple and peach candy-coloured blooms, will light up gardens from June to October. Plants are dense and well-branched, forming neat domes with a height and spread of up to 60cm. Flowers measure up to 5cm across.
The collection contains SUNPATIENS® Candy Red, SUNPATIENS® Candy Purple and SUNPATIENS® Candy Peach. Buy them as Jumbo Plug Plants in multiples of 3, 6 or 12, containing 1, 2 or 4 of each variety, from £8.99.
Busy Lizzie Pearl Island (Impatiens walleriana)
Fill pots, beds and borders with Busy Lizzie Pearl Island, from the latest breeding in disease-free Impatiens. Exclusive to Thompson & Morgan, these half-hardy annuals bear long-lasting, blooms in pink, orange and white. The little plants have a height and spread of just 45cm, providing non-stop colour in sun or partial shade from June to October.
Buy as 15 or 30 Garden Ready Plants from £14.99 or 24 or 72 Plug Plants from £9.99.
For more information and to see the other new varieties, visit www.thompson-morgan.com/
