Best Thompson & Morgan Plants and Bulbs 2026: The 6 We'd Buy

Tête-à-Tête is the safest bulb on the site and one of the cheapest: 20 bulbs for £7.99, 40 for £9.99 or 80 for £11.99, all listed for despatch within 24 hours. The plants reach about 15cm, which suits pots, window boxes and the front of a border, and the page carries the T&M Promise that bulbs will flower in their first year after planting. Plant them about 10cm deep and 10cm apart in sun or part shade.

The reviews, 90 per cent positive across more than 500, are almost all about condition on arrival. The weak ones are specific. One buyer found the bulbs small next to some bought elsewhere, and the company’s reply concedes that bulb size varies with grade and that smaller bulbs can take longer to flower fully. Another simply said delivery was poor.

Sweet peas are one of the few flowers worth sowing in October, and this packet of 60 seeds is Thompson & Morgan’s own exclusive mixture, chosen for scent and long stems. The page explains the autumn method clearly: three seeds to a 7.5cm pot, germination at 20 to 25°C over 10 to 21 days, then a cold frame for the winter. On a seed-only order, delivery is the lower £2.99 rate.

The reviews explain the 84 per cent score. Several buyers in 2025 and 2026 reported very poor germination, one with only two seeds from twelve, and two others with none at all after sowing twice. Others had full trays. If yours fail, keep the outer packet and the inner foil sachet: the germination guarantee requires both.

Many garden tulips flower less well after their first year. Thompson & Morgan sells this mix as one that returns, labels it Best in Class for perennial tulips, and says it begins flowering in early April on 40cm stems sturdy enough for cutting. Plant 15cm deep, which the page stresses because shallow planting can stop flowering. The 16-bulb pack at £12.99 is better value than eight for £9.99, and all sizes were listed for despatch within 14 days.

The reviews are 92 per cent positive, but nearly all were written at planting, before a single flower. The most useful comes from a repeat buyer, who grows them in pots each year and moves them to the garden afterwards, where, in their words, if they are lucky they flower again. Feed them well if you want the perennial claim to hold.

Native bluebells want the dappled shade of deciduous trees and soil that stays moist through summer, and given that they spread into a carpet. This page offers dry bulbs for autumn planting, from eight for £7.99 to 32 for £12.99, and larger packs ‘in the green’ for spring planting, sent by the end of February 2027. The page states that only cultivated stock is used, which matters because wild bluebells are protected.

The 88 per cent score includes one review worth weighing. A buyer whose bulbs flowered in April 2026 said they did not look like native bluebells at all. Another found the bulbs unimpressive on arrival, although they bloomed well. A third called it ridiculous to be asked for a review months before a spring bulb appears.

Polyanthus are the bedding plant that flowers through late winter, and this mix was chosen for scent. When we read the page only the garden ready plants were available, 12 for £17.99, 24 for £26.99 or 48 for £44.99, despatched within seven days. These are bigger than plugs and sent ‘green’, ahead of flowering, so they can go straight into a pot or border. All six plug pack sizes were out of stock.

Reviewers are mostly happy with garden ready plants. The complaints concern plugs: one buyer found them small, another said a few had died, and a Trustpilot reviewer in October 2026 said half of a polyanthus and primrose plug order arrived too wet and damped off. Another reviewer thought the plants expensive once delivery was added.

Duke is a self-fertile blueberry that crops in July and early August and reaches about 150cm. It needs acid soil, so most gardeners will grow it in a pot of ericaceous compost watered with rainwater. The page offers one 9cm pot for £9.99, up to four for £24.99, or a 2-litre plant for £29.99 sent by the end of April 2027. The 10-litre plants were out of stock.

This has the weakest score here, 78 per cent from 22 reviews, and the reasons are consistent. Buyers have called it poor value, a waste of money and in poor condition, and another found the plants small. That fits the page’s own note: blueberries fruit from their third year, and a 9cm pot is a young plant. Buy the larger size if you want berries sooner.