Having started supplying seed to the professional market five years ago, Ipswich-based T&M launched a small range of young plants to commercial growers last year. Grown to order, the new service has proved popular with sales more than doubling the original forecast. As a result, the young plants range has been expanded with a further 13 annual and 13 perennial varieties.
Among the striking new annual additions are Dahlia variabilis ‘Fireworks’ - which produce bushy plants containing flowers with striped petals and Verbena hybrida ‘St George’, characterised by its abundant red flowers with white eye. Among the perennials additions are two eye-catching poppies, Papaver orientale ‘Checkers’ and ‘Fruit Punch’, a large weather resistant variety with ruffled blooms.
According to T&M professional grower manager Nigel Judd, the top selling young plants in the range are the new double hellebore ‘Double Queen’ mixed. In second place was the Fleuroselect gold award winning Laurentia ‘Avant-garde’. Available in blue or pink, it flowers four to five weeks earlier than other Laurentias and is noted for its uniformity, bushy habit and attractive flower shape. Avant-garde also claims to be more vigorous and floriferous and has a longer flowering season.
T&M is currently taking orders for its young plants for delivery week 10 or week 38-40 for perennials to be potted up and grown on over winter.
New seed introductions
A cottage garden favourite, the new T&M compact hollyhock Alcea rosea ‘Fiesta Time’ is a new first year flowering perennial. Ideal for containers or borders, it has a final height of just 90cm.
Another eye-catching addition to the seed catalogue range is Anoda dilleniana ‘Candy Cups’. Similar in appearance to Malva (Mallow), this first year flowering perennial has attractive candy-pink cup-shaped flowers, a bushy habit, and is ideal as a garden border plant with a final height of 120cm.
With unique deep red and golden yellow bi-coloured flowers, Antirrhinum majus nanum ‘Oriental Lanterns’ has deep green rust resistant foliage and is ideal for containers and as a bedding plant.
Other hardy annual introductions include a subtle Calendula officinalis ‘Bronzed Beauty’. Sporting unique cream to deep peach coloured flowers, with contrasting black eye, Bronzed Beauty is ideal as a border bedding plant and can be used as a cut flowers.
The new compact large viola hybrida ‘Purple Passion’ was proving its worth at the trials last week, continuing to put on a good show compared to some other varieties.
Although not on display at the trials, T&M’s latest catalogue features the world’s first 100 percent true-to-type single hellebore ‘Queen F1 Hybrid’. Available in an attractive palette of eight colours, including Emerald green, T&M intends to make it available in individual colours for 2008.
The catalogue also features several attractive new colour mixes of existing varieties. Sweetpea ‘Night and Day’ is a mix of pure white and deep burgundy delicately scented flowers while Nigella ‘University mix’ is a bright contrasting mix of dark and light blue flowers.
Looking ahead to the 2008 catalogue, there will be a dark leaved antirrhinum with a pale and dark pink flower. With fine foliage it produces plenty of side shoots giving good coverage.
Other novelties will include a striking yellow geum and a seed raised dark dahlia with dark red flower with yellow centre.
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