Comments regarding Thompson and Morgan (US)

I have been buying from T&M for quite awhile now. I buy some, and then go back and buy more and repeat the proces s over.

I love the sales they have and have always have recieved my seeds within just a few days.

Usually I have always recieved a fre e packet of some sort of seed with my order. it is great because it give sme a chance to try new cultivars and if those grow here than I can expand my flower buying fromthem to other types of seed they carry that similar.

I was a little dissapointe dthis time thought to find that while online it said I was goign to receive a free packet of white eggplant seeds and it showed up on line, but when i got my email confirmation and order is was not there.

I am going back to place another order already and excited about being abe to get $10 off on orders over $35 bucks.
Hope the coupon works. Figure the missing freebie was some computer glitch on my part this time.

Stil a number one company with me.

I see a lot of whining going on but I have to fly in the face of it and say that I LOVE Thompson and Morgan! As a Master Gardener who has worked for White Flower Farm and given a couple of Seed Starting talks there, I know the pitfalls that can beset gardeners, especially if they are new at it. (Use the best materials available! DON'T go cheap for starting mix! REALLY make sure you have the right lighting!) Yes, Thompson and Morgan (a company that originated in England) offers seeds that may be a little trickier to start. But these seeds are treasures from around the world, most are rare, and they are offering us A HUGE BUFFET of fabulous choices!! (Aren't we Americans just a little bit spoiled? And demanding?)
That all has to figure into their costs, and after working in the business, I know that the profit is small and hardwon when you are selling little packets of seeds for a few dollars (think of how many they have to shuffle, pack, and sell to make any real money, folks!!) They offer rarities and delights that could so easily disappear from a tough marketplace...many garden business are stumbling or folding in recent years!
Think bigger picture - anyone want to go back to limp offerings of a few Marigolds, Petunias and tomatoes again? Hoping everyone will appreciate that seed starting is an adventure, see what you can get to grow, instead of acting like Nature should arrive on our doorstep wearing a guarantee.......
and that if you want the romance of gardening to continue, Thompson and Morgan deserves and needs our support!
P.S. Try their Eschscholzia 'Champagne and Roses' - Easy to plant outside, and absolutely mesmerizing in the garden, plus - I'll bet none of your neighbors will have it!!!!!

I have to agree with everyone who commented about the bad germination rate. Of 19 seed packets, only five had any germination to speak of. A few others had extremely low germination rates, and the rest absolutely none. This is after I pay close attention to chilling seeds and other planting requirements.

T&H's beautiful catalog and unusually large selection, along with their lovely cupons and free shipping offers is not worth the money, time and effort completely wasted.

I thought I just didn't know how to start primulas correctly, maybe it wasn't me after all. I wasn't going to try again, but I may look into a different source for them.

"

Hi valliebeth17!
Please remember we stand behind our guarantee! - refund or replacement if not satisfied. We want to resolve this - please contact us.
I want to reassure you all our products are tested and meet or exceed USDA requirements. Also speak with our horticulturist, she is always willing to share her hints and tips to improve your sucess rate.
Phone us on 1-800-274-7333, our friendly Customer Service team will sort this out for you.
Kind regards, Thompson & Morgan"

I was shocked to see how many people have complained about this company. I have been ordering from them for years and I have always been aware of the fact that some seeds are harder to germinate than others, and often they have a lower germination rate. (This information is always provided to you in their catalogs!) My plants have never come "untrue" from seed, and their prices are quite competitive. Sure, hard -to-find plants may cost more but that is due to supply/demand and the fact that some plants don't produce many seeds, or because growing them from seed may not always be the best way to propagate them. They have been around since 1855 and I firmly believe that they know what they are doing.

I've bought from them in the past when I couldn't find any other suppliers of the particular item I was looking for.

Everything is completely over prices. Germination isn't great either. You don't get your money's worth.

I might buy from them again if I just have to have something and can't find it else where but I won't like it!

This year was my first time ordering from T&M, and I'm glad I did. If I had seen their terrible rating on the Watchdog before ordering it might have scared me away - fortunately (this time) I didn't look until after ordering.

I ordered several kinds of annual flower seed. Germination was poor on two varieties (papaver rhoeas & scabiosa atropurpurea), but this was probably due to my method (direct seeding - should have winter sowed for stratification). Germination on other varieties (also direct seeded) was good to excellent. Overall the rate was comparable to other companies I've tried. And the flowers truly surpassed in their loveliness. I was especially impressed with the clarkia bottae, clarkia elegans, and eschscholzia 'Thai Silk Lemon Bush'. Very unique varieties I didn't see for sale elsewhere.

They have the most drool-worthy catalogue in existence, and I personally enjoy it immensely.

My one complaint is that their prices are completely ridiculous. I would not buy from them if you can find something similar (at 1/2 or 1/4 the price) elsewhere. But it may be worth it sometimes to turn to them for something particularly fine or rare.

I would not recommend their seeds to anyone. I fell for their catalog which is very well designed but the seed quality is very bad. I bought some summer sorbet seeds that came in nearly empty but that was replaced. However the replacement did not germinate. I also bought Mimulus maximus, Nemesia paintbox which along with some others did not germinate. Please do not plan your annual garden depending on their seeds.

I ordered several seed packets of snapdragons, white coneflower, and asters, in addition to a few others. I had great germination for the asters but only 3 coneflowers sprouted out of an entire packet, and I think I got about 4 or 5 seedlings from 3 packets of snapdragons. I've been able to germinate "difficult" seeds like guara and have had excellent results from coneflower seeds from other sources, so I do not feel that the problem is me. I doubt that I will buy seeds from them again, as it seems I am not the only one who has had problems with germination.

I get their catalog first, but order from them last every year. Their prices are a little higher, but the others are catching up. They have unusual things and interesting varieties. I don't have trouble with germination much, but one time I got Japanese Maple seeds from them and only a few germinated. I always have a few failures, especially with the tricky stuff from any company and I usually assume it's my fault. So I like T&M. It's fun to try the weird stuff. Plus, this year they sent a nice pair of gloves with the order. I love free stuff.

I think this company must be staffed by chimpanzees. i once ordered lavatera seed but got non- viable chaff, and malva not only the wrong plant ENTIRLEY, but the worst invasive weed since dandilion hitched a ride to the new world in somone's pocket.

Like many others have posted, I have had spotty germination. Some seed varieties germ very well, others not at all or very poorly. I love their variety, but there are just too many other places to shop at that have never disappointed me. I'm going to take my business elsewhere from now on.

I ordered 15 packs of flower seeds from T& M in December. All of them have germinated as per the instructions on the packet.

My only problem thus far was with the quantity - every packet had less than the advertised quantity - anywhere from 10 to 50 percent less than stated.

I won't order from them again...

All of the seeds I bought from Thompson Morgan were just about 100% germination. I liked everything from the fast shipping to the germination. I wasn't thrilled with their prices, but I didn't have to buy from them.
Debby

This is my first time ordering from T & M, partly because of the negative comments. I decided to order and do my own experiment. I have Russian Black, Black Cherry, and Sun Gold from three sources. T&M's seeds have had 100% germination where the others have not. One highly-rated company had less than 50% germination.

I used the same soilless mix, with the same heat.

While this may not occur on all their seeds, it was interesting.

Reading all the negatives almost scared me away from ordering from this company, but they had some unique sunflower seeds not found elsewhere. I ordered Little Dorrit
sunflower seeds and planted them in a plant propagotor with
a heating pad set on low temp. Also planted Dwarf Yellow
Hedging sunflower seeds. They germinated within two weeks. The other sunflower seeds ordered will be started
outside when the ground gets warmer. Unique seeds tend to
be more expensive, but worth the try one time.......

Ordered seeds March 14, arrived March 24 - 10 days, no problem for me. Ordered from T&M due to their having seeds for 2 plants that no one else carried, except Select Seeds, and the shipping cost was the lower of the two.

Will have to wait and see on germination and report back.

I have been gowing plants from seed for the past ten years with little trouble; to fill up flower gardens on 5 acres. In search of different varieties, I came across T&M last year and ordered primula seeds, as well as other varieties. I also ordered some seeds this year. I tend to order from 3-5 companies per year. T&M seeds have very low germination. They also send small amounts of seeds that tend to get stuck in the glue of the little foil packages (not a fan). I am not one to complain to a company; they should know what they are selling., I just won't order again. I found a local seed company 'Gardens North' and ordered primula as well as other difficult seeds from them, and the germination was outstanding. Many major seed sources seem to be getting sloppy, and customers should not put up with it, they are making big money and should reply with quality products! I would not reccomend T&M to anyone.

"

Thanks for your comments. Just to remind all our customers we guarantee germination and stand behind our seeds 100%. In the event that there are any problems, we really want to hear about them, so that we can put things right. Please contact us!"

I suppose I should say "neutral" since I haven''t actually received my order yet so I have no idea if I got my seeds or if they will germinate. I have been told I should receive my order in about 7 business days. Please note that I placed my order 10 days ago. I was also told that some items are on back order. I don't know if they held the order hoping those would come in or not. I wish I would have come here and read others thoughts on the company before going gaga over the beautiful pictures in the catalog. I even placed orders with a couple of other companies about three and four days after I placed this order and I received their seeds last week. I guess whether I order again will depend upon the germination rate. Previous comments do not fill me with hope though.

"

Thanks for posting and bring this to the attention of fellow gardeners and T&M shoppers. We have had an unexpected over demand for many of our products this season, which has meant that the orders are taking a little longer to ship and we are busy making more to fill everyone's orders, so that the seeds arrive in time for spring planting. If you do have any complaints about contents or germination please call us and we are happy to stand behind our germination guarantee and will refund your money or replace your seeds, as you wish. All our products way exceed the USDA minimums, but germination can drop off between testing, and we thank our customers for bringing this to our attention. Feel free to call with comments 1-800-274 7333 x3019"

Used T&M for seven types of annual seed. All came within ten days of ordering and my germination rate was over 95%.I will be ordering again next year as they carry a great assortment of seeds!!

I ordered when seeds were on sale in June. I set the packages aside with the rest of my seeds to be planted for the following growing season.
A week ago, I took the seeds out to sow in peat pots and found two of the packets contained no seeds at all.
I wrote to the company to see if I could get a refund or credit and explained that I would hold off on a rating until I got a satisfactory solution. I did not think that ordering from a company it was necessary to actually have to open seed packets on receipt to make sure there was actually a product inside.
Even though they were on sale, I expect "something" for my money.
I will leave the neutral rating and either mark it up or down depending on if and when I receive any acknowledgment of my email about the order.

Our experience with T&M will be our last! Our order was in the hundreds. (probably because they're so expensive). Having controlled conditions we started seeds indoors for early spring transfer to our greenhouse. The germination ratio was very,very low. Below 35% of over 250 seeds. We must add that all other seeds planted side by side from other companies did very well. It's not us!!! We now realize and are convinced that the pretty pictures and catalog is where they place the emphasis. Our third and last year. In the prior years we also complained of low germination,via telephone they worked around taking responsibility and assured us of anything that made no sense only to send us other seeds which did no better... no refund as requested. We've asked them to remove us from there mailing list.

"

We do realise our products don't suit everyone, but we do listen to our customers and make every effort to follow up and put things right, in the event of a problem. A full refund was issued in February when this customer contacted us, and he has been removed from our mailing list as he requested. "

I placed a small order using a coupon code that came with the catalogue they sent me. The items arrived properly packed and in about 10 business days. They included some free pepper and lettuce seeds. If I grow them, I'll edit this with germination rates later.

I love the incredible variety this company offers! I've never had any difficulty ordering, unless you count the ones that sold out before I placed my order -- my fault for not ordering earlier. The staff has always been very helpful and courteous in these situations though. I've never ordered plants from them, only seeds, and I've always been very, very pleased!

I have bought seeds from T&M for several years. Their annuals usually come through in fine shape. Perennials are a mixed bag: even though I try hard to follow their propagation instructions, about a quarter of them fail. I have not succeeded with their Poppies at all.
Nevertheless, they do offer many varieties other seed companies do not, and even though their prices are generally high, there are a few bargains for generic strains, and I will probably continue to order seeds from their extensive catalog and cross my fingers when I plant them.

I've bought seeds off and on from T and M for about 20 years because they offer interesting varieties. I've finally decided that it just isn't worthwhile because of the bad germination rate. In 2006, I ordered 8 packages and ended up with 6 plants. Two of the plants turned out to be weeds.

I placed an order with Thompson and Morgan on 11/20/06 and received it on Nov 27 which was very good service. My neutral comes from the fact that a large number of the seed packets have no photography or drawing of the plant enclosed. Also some of the seed packs are a generic packaging for a group of plants such as a seed packet for delphiniums list 4 possible choices on the cover and the inner pack is the one which identifies the actual one ordered. For a pack of seeds of Delphinium that cost 7.95 I expect a picture and a detail of the plant on the package. I keep my old seed packages for reference so these are useless and BORING. Sorry they may be saving money, but they are about to loose me as a customer. Patti

My experience with Thompson and Morgan was pretty much the same as some others, hit and miss germination. But they do have a great selection so it may be worth the gamble on seeds you can't find elsewhere.

For vegetable seeds, I have found no better supplier than Thompson and Morgan. My germination rates with their seeds have consistently been excellent. I cannot comment on their flower seeds, because I don't grow flowers. The prices on some of their seeds are a bit high, but I've found excellent value on their outlet, valueseeds.com.

I bought from T&M the last year, and the germination was good exept the oriental poppy, only like six seeds germinated and one alone remain but never grew and it has one year. And others perenials plants grew well but not flowers, only one(i´m very happy wiht this hollyhock) but the rest any and it is in the same place. Nice catalogues but hight prices and low germination rates

I have made three purchases from Thompson & Morgan this year. The seeds started thus far have produced some lovely plants. The only thing I'd suggest for improvement is for them to put photos of the plants on all the seed packages (so I don't have to print the photos and attach to remind myself which are growing). ;-)

I have ordered from T&M for about 6 years and finally last year I did an experiment with seeds from T&M and seeds from another company. I used the exact flowers from both companies and planted 6 different varieties of seed in the exact place with markings which seed came from where. With T&M I had a 10% germination rate on 4 varieties and about 80% germination rate from the other company. the other 2 varieties from T&M had a 0% germination and 75% from the other company's seeds. I looked at the packets from T&M and saw that the packing dates were all 2-4 years old. The other company had the current year packing date. Perhaps the British feel that they can pawn off their old seed on us but I am finished with this company for good.

"

Dear sixlazyk,

I am very sorry to hear about the results you got from our seeds. We will do whatever it takes to put things right. You should never have received seeds from a previous year, as all our seed is tested and packed for a current sales season. We stand behind our 100% satisfaction guarantee. Please get in touch and we can sort this out. Email: cwatson@thompson-morgan.com

Sincerely,

Claire Watson, Vice President"

I placed my first order from them with some clemantis, madagascar jasmine, and some kind of tree with perty flowers on it, LOL. Just put the seeds in some Jiffy-7 pellets per sowing instructions, 04/29/06. The minimun germination for either of the three types of seeds is 30 days with one of them up to 60 days. I guess I have a lot of waiting to do. I hope that I can remember to follow up on this post. Expectation is a real Killer(bother), I am kind of impatient. I have read some of the posts and realized that germination percentages can be kind of low, so I planted 6-12 of each type. If I get just two of each I will consider it worth it. After all, How many seeds does natural process in nature produce and how many actually germinate. I figure the ratio is quite low when I think about it (there are always exceptions to a rule of thumb, but I still see it as a low success ratio.)

I purchased about $40 worth this year. I used snail mail due to the fact that the web site couldn't process a $10 off code properly on the computer. I still received my seed within a weeks time. All seed was shipped and there were a few free packs included. The prices are little on the high side but they are the only source for Cosmos Versailles Tetra,
Chrysanthemum Primrose Gem and Linanthes French Hyb. Stardust Mix. The cosmos VT are gorgeous! Color exactly as catalog describes.

Seed Viability – low/average (due to handling)

Customer Service - average

Shipping fees – Contributes to profit margin. TM is structured to profit on shipping .

Value to Gardener: In USA’s Seed Market - low

Thompson and Morgan is UK’s Seeds-in-a-Box, Jack.

I can't speak for the viability of the seeds, but I did place an order with them for seeds and I also took advantage of the half price offer for the patio greenhouse. Both the seeds and greenhouse arrived in less than a week. The greenhouse was easy to put together and I was surprised at the size. It was larger than I expected.

I have been ordering from T&M for at least 5 years - probably closer to 10 years (I usually spend $200 to $300 a year) and I always look forward to receiving the new catalog. It is always the first one to arrive and I enjoy the detailed germination and growing-on requirements. In fact, I often pass on extra catalogs to friends who are reluctant to start seeds so they can use it as a guide. However I agree that they send out too many catalogs per customer. I haven't noticed any germination problems other than the ones that need very strict stratification...but even those tend to be ok if I keep track of the temperature schedules (cold, warm, cool, etc). I have to admit, though, that I have NEVER gotten my sedum ussuriense to germinate...although this year I did get my sempevirvum to do so after I accidentally froze them instead of refrigerated (my greenhouse refrigerator was still set on "christmas cookie" temperature). The simple germinators, like pansy, impatiens, petunias, salvias - have all been successful for me. But I have to belly laugh at their refusal to sell any poppies that are "somniferums" but maybe that is just the US government picking on our overseas cousins! Customer service has been great in my experience...I had one pack of ageratum arrive empty this year - the foil packet was there, just no seed anywhere inside. I had a replacement pack (N/C) in less than five days! (with seed). I also had a packet of New Zealand delphiniums with two foil packets inside - so it more than made up for the empty one (though I did feel guilty about complaining about the empty pack without offering to pay for the double pack). Overall, T&M are one of my favorite seed companies. (I also heavily use Park garden). When it comes to germination....how much is that just the luck of the gardener? I always figured that this was my fault in some way, I never thought that it could be a company. I guess I have to keep better track of this and do some comparison experimentation in the future. I have 20 packs of pets from T&M and 5 or so from Parks this year....maybe I will do a count of seeds planted vs seedlings emerged and see if this brings any problems to light (for either company I guess).

I've been ordering from T&M for several years now, and despite some having sad germination rates, I have been generally happy with their seeds. I've gotten good germination on all the ones (that I've planted so far) from my order this year. They also have many rare seeds that I haven't found anywhere else.

This is my first time ordering seeds here, did check prices before ordering, so will be interested in my germination rates - now that I have read some of the reviews, and see that the most recent ones all have had less then successful germination rates. I was happy with the ordering process and arrival of the seeds, but will wait to see what finds itself into my garden this spring. To be continued

I've had a love-hate relationship with T&M since, oh, about 1986 or so which was when I made my first order.

Great catalogue; lots of pretty pictures, BUT ...

... many seeds are overpriced (though lots aren't); germination can be very poor (though again, some is OK); plant descriptions probably err on the side of over-enthusiastic at the expense of true honesty.

This said, I order from them again & again & again ... with enough "hits" to make up for the frequent "misses", LOL!

One thing that bugs me - why do they send me so many catalogues? This spring I got (count 'em) FOUR!!! The last two had notes attached of the "You haven't ordered from us in some time; will this be your last catalogue?" type. Umm, I did order in 2004 - surely missing an order in 2005 shouldn't get this kind of response? (And as another gardening chum said who also received multiple catalogues: "If they didn't send out so much mail maybe they could lower their prices!")

Well, call me a sucker for punishment but stiff prices & iffy germination & all I will probably be ordering from these guys well into my doddering old age ...

Buyers beware, OK? Go ahead & order from T&M but be sure to doublecheck with other seed houses & your reference books on the more uncommon stuff - may save yourself $$$ & disappointment on some items.

(And if you really are serious about accurate descriptions/excellent germination/professional service & if you can afford to spend fairly serious $$$ on seeds, check out Jelitto as well.)