Comments regarding Thompson and Morgan (US)

I used to order a lot of seeds from T&M and most of the time, they had full color pictures of the plants and instructions on the back for the seeds. In addition, I like the added touch of a sealed packet with date and lot code.

Now, having ordered some sweet william, there are no pictures on the packets, just some generic packet. The instructions and info look like they were printed with an inkjet.

And on top of that, no sealed packet anymore to protect them from drying out. Have no idea what success I'm going to have with these seeds.

They may not have as great of selection, but check out Harris. They may not have flashy packets but they are sealed packets.

"On Nov 28, 2012 10:21 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We will definitely take your comments into consideration, but at this time the seed packets will not have the pictures or foil packets."

Posted on June 8, 2012, updated June 8, 2012
Posted on March 31, 2010, updated June 8, 2012
I ordered something like 14 packets of seeds from them this year, and had no problem with germination on what we've sown so far, with 2 exceptions - salpiglossis and lupins. The stained glass flower is relatively difficult to grow, but lupins shouldn't be - of 40 seeds, 6 came up and I did soak them overnight - the 6 I got are lovely and healthy, and cheaper still, than buying the plants...

My main beef with this company is that the phone staff is a bit abrupt and email replies might never come. And it took 3 weeks to get my second order. And the seeds are very pricy and shipping is $6.95 no matter if you order one packet or ten. And the site will accept a coupon code and then suddenly when you check out, the code is forgotten/won't take.

They are/have moved to Indiana this winter/spring, so maybe that will make a difference in office...

I'm not sure I would recommend to a friend, but I might order from them again.

"On Apr 9, 2010 2:21 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. We are always here to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can. Please accept our apology for the inconvenience."

I ordered some seeds (around nine packets) from this company during a sale last year. They got here in a timely manner and were nicely packaged. I wish they would show color illustrations on all the packets. I had fair success with the seeds despite their rating here on the watchdog and I think they deserve better ratings. If I had known what experience others had had with T+M's seeds, I would not have bought from them, but I was pleasantly surprised that I did have good success. I do prefer heirloom and organic seeds, so this year I am planning on buying from companies like Diane's Seeds and Botanical Interests. I was slightly disappointed with the number of seeds in the packets, but because I had good success, this does not matter much. This company seems very fickle, though is good for those on a limited budget. One of the packets I ordered was backordered or so the email said. On the website though, the seeds were in stock. This was confusing. Although I had good success, I will order seeds from more worthy companies in the future.

"On Aug 10, 2011 10:57 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate you taking the time to post. I also want to let you know that we do offer some organic vegetable seeds as well as a variety of heirloom seeds. Please check us out again, we do offer top quality seeds and service.
http://www.tmseeds.com/category/s?keyword=heirloom
http://www.tmseeds.com/category/Shop_Organic_Seed"

Posted on May 13, 2011, updated May 22, 2011
I sent an email to T&M US and received no confirmation and no reply, so I'll post my complaint here. Like many others, it seems, I've purchased seeds twice in a row for Tinkerbelle Nicotiana that have not germinated. I've grown them for years so I know what I'm doing but when not one sprouts, it's not me, it's the seeds. Not sure what happened to this company, they used to have good quality seeds, now, not so much. Of the ten mixed color Echinaceas I planted, only four have germinated, not much joy there either. The sweet peas, they seem to have made it, so far.

"On May 13, 2011 2:17 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for letting us know about the problem with your seeds. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information. We will pass this onto our quality department."

This spring I ordered seeds from the USA Thompson and Morgan's. I was surprised to find Michigan Bulb Company trying to get money from my account. I would never order from them as a friend had trouble with a fall bulb garden. When I called them(MB) to find out what was going on, after some initial confusion it was found they are a Thompson and Morgan company and the name Michigan Bulb had been sent to my account in error.
I wanted people to be aware the two companies are connected.
The person I spoke to on the phone was helpful and polite but the company(MB) doesn't have a free number so I paid for it.

"On May 12, 2011 7:48 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback and we apologize for the confusion. Yes, Michigan Bulb is one of our sister companies, with the same owner but the facilities for these companies are completely separate.
"

They still have varieties I haven't seen elsewhere. But I miss the old catalog. They're leaving out information I used to depend on, like whether a plant is toxic or poisonous, and how difficult seed is to germinate. (I especially miss the "direct sow" emblem, though that was only used for a couple of years.)

On the website, where are the indexes and A-Z listings (especially the one by botanical Latin name?) Why is it so difficult to view, e.g., all alyssum varieties together?

Why are there only three sugar snap peas? Are they leaving out varieties that are sold out? I understand that those listings can't generate immediate revenue, but it makes a difference to customers. I want to know whether I need to order earlier next year to get the ones I want, or order from a different seed company.

To sum up: used to be a wonderful seed company, beautiful flowers and great information. The flowers are still beautiful, but the information isn't what it used to be, and I'm darned if I can figure out why. Isn't the point of a website, in particular, that you don't have to leave out information for lack of space?

"On Apr 5, 2011 2:55 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I will definately pass along your comments to our web department. We always appreciate your feedback."

It was a rainy day here so I decided to do some seed shopping. Per an email I received they were having a huge sale on seeds. I happily spent nearly 2 hours perusing the website, filled up my cart and was inputting my cc info and shipping info... then I decided to go back and increase a few of the varieties because they were such a great deal.

I updated the cart and when I continued to the payment portion of the checkout, all the seed prices had reverted back to their 'normal' prices.. most of them double the what the sales price had been. I kept trying to use the 'back' button, even totally cleaned out my cart and re-added the purchases but no matter what I did the prices remained the original prices.. NOT the sale prices that had shown only an hour or so before.

I finally gave up after getting completely frustrated. I would have loved to have made my purchase and I'm not sure what happened or how/why the prices would revert back like that so quickly. Has anyone else ever had that happen?

:(

"On Mar 31, 2011 8:24 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you letting us know so we can take care of the problem on our website. A customer service representative will be contacting you for your account information so we can place your order for you with the sale pricing."

After an extensive search for blight resistant tomatoes, I came upon two varieties available from this company - "Legend" and "Ferline". I ordered them - and to the company's credit, my order arrived extremely promptly. No issue there.

My issue arose after having carefully nurtured my tomatoes from seeds started indoors in the spring...transplanted them into raised beds with potting soil...only to find that the seeds labelled as Legend do not yield a regular sized red tomato - instead they are cherry-sized yellow tomatoes! Very productive, good flavor - which would have been wonderful if that was what I had ordered.

The other variety - Ferline - does not have blight, but has been suffering from wilt. Still alive - after I cut off severly wilted portions...but worrisome nonetheless.

Posted on April 26, 2010, updated May 21, 2010
Posted on April 19, 2010, updated April 26, 2010
It seems like there are no "medium" internet companies. Either they're great, or they suck.

This one falls into the latter category.

Granted, my order was small, ($9), but that's no excuse to still not have shipped after three weeks with no explanation. Even after two contacts, I can't get these people to move.

Soon, it will be too hot for the lettuce I ordered. "Thanks a lot Thompson & Morgan"

Yeah, I know...I know. You strive for "100% customer satisfaction" And I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid.

"On Apr 23, 2010 8:41 AM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

Thank you for taking the time to post. A customer service representative will be contacting you for you account information to locate your order and have it shipped as soon as possible."

I'm from the UK and the Cobra nasturtium appears to have some problems with germination,
I sowed over forty seeds and only one seed germinated. I must say however that T.M do appear to accept there is some problem with these seeds as they had no hesitation in replacing all the packets I had purchased,
However as yet these have not germinated either, but will give then another week.

"On Apr 26, 2010 4:30 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate your feedback. We apologize for the problem with the seed. We do our best to ship quality products and your feedback helps to make sure we do just that."

Posted on April 6, 2010, updated April 13, 2010
I don't know yet about the germination of the seeds, but I paid by check and at least one packet in my order was not available. I received a postcard note assuring me that "I have not been charged." However, the check was cashed, and there has been no note about a refund or that I have credit with the company for a later seed purchase.

"On Apr 9, 2010 2:18 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

We appreciate you taking the time to post. A customer service representative will be contacting you about your order and refund."

I got my first catalog from them with a free shipping offer code. I placed my order for almost $80 but couldn't get the free shipping code to work. After reading their online help about such things and not getting anywhere I rang them up. The person that answered had such a heavy accent I had to ask her to repeat herself several times, which only added to my frustration. We went round & round about the free shipping code. She didn't believe that what was printed in the offer box was actually printed there. But she eventually offered to set up an account for me, take my order and apply the free shipping code. I give her my name & shipping details and credit card number. Several times I tried to give her the item number for the first item I wanted to order. She finally tells me that the item numbers that are in the catalog and on the website can't be used for phone orders and she'll send me another catalog that should arrive in four to six weeks (which is too late!) and *might* have another code for free shipping. I was so flabbergasted by not being able to use the item numbers that were given to me, both in the print catalog & online, that I could only hang up. I did email them about it and a few days later I got a response saying I could just place my order online and if I'd include a note about the free shipping in the 'special instructions' (or whatever it is) area, I'd get the free shipping.

I made my order, made the comment about the shipping and hoped for the best. The bulk of my order was mailed almost two weeks after being processed. The order detail on their site said it was shipped via UPS When I clicked on the tracking link they included on the order detail page, it took me to the UPS website which always said no information was available. Much later I found out they actually sent it via USPS and the seeds had been sitting for I don't know how long in my mailbox. My mailbox isn't on my property & so doesn't get checked very often UNLESS I'm expecting something. And since I thought it was coming UPS I didn't check the mailbox everyday.

Two of my items were on back order. I wasn't sure if I'd get one of them since they were clearancing them out out. I did end up getting it a few days ago. The last thing supposedly shipped today but I have no idea if it's coming UPS or USPS since they didn't update the order detail page. It's not a huge deal to check the mailbox, it would just be nice to know one way or the other.

Since I do all my shopping online, I am checking cc online every morning before I go to work for irregularities.

Saw a credit card charge for Michigan Bulb and had to call , a non toll free number, to find out why, since I had not ordered anything from them. Turns out after 5 minutes that it was for this T/M seed order.

$8.95 spg/handling for 11 pks of seeds and a bird feeder brush. and the seeds arrived today in a brown, non padded envelope that is damaged w/ 2 pks seeds spilled out. Brush on b/o.

Too early to plant them so I can not comment on germination.

"Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen, Inc. U. S. operations was acquired by none other than Gardens Alive as of Sept. 25, 2009"

Curious as to how this will affect ordering through them? We all know mergers sometimes work and sometimes do not. Or better put... sometimes the bugs have to be worked out.

Holy wormcastings Batman!...


Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen, Inc. U. S. operations was acquired by none other than Gardens Alive as of Sept. 25, 2009 (according to businessweek.com). It appears to be a larger format printed catalog but it seems as though there are less varieties to choose from(?)...speculation on my part. As many printed catalogs do now, there are special boxes bringing attention to more listed items on the web. The website in my opinion is a little less user friendly and is missing the convenient master index that could be searched by separate letter of the alphabet. The website search feature is also not complete: a search of "papaver" or "poppy" only comes up with two items on the website yet the print catalog lists thirteen under "poppy".

I ordered some Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia seeds and some Lavender seeds and a soil thermometer on 4/14/09. I didn't keep track of how long it took to get my order but it did arrive fairly promptly. My issue is that none of my lavender seeds have germinated. However, the Cherry Rudbeckia have germinated quite nicely. The Rudbeckiaare very small and don't seem to be getting larger but I could be a little impatient. Since I only paid 2.95 for the lavender seeds its not much of a loss. However, all my work to get them up and growing has gone down the drain. Luckily I didn't create the flower bed in which I was going to plant the lavender. I gave the company a neutral but it should be closer to a negative because what's the point of getting seeds from a company if all you end up with is peat pots full of dirt. I think I might just opt to buy grown pants from a local nursery. As for the company, I would say the service is good but the product is low quality and you may not get any plants from the seeds (50/50 chance). The thermometer was just an overpriced meat thermometer. It wasn't a special designed thermometer just for dirt. Don't waste your money, go to a local kitchen supply store and get a cheap one, save the S/H

"On May 20, 2009 12:34 PM, Thompson and Morgan (US) responded with:

I am so pleased you liked the Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy, I am sure they will look great this summer, but I am sorry for your disappointment with the Lavender seeds - and I completely understand! I tried these myself and did not realize at first how much patience and care I would need for these seeds. I was determined to have my Lavender plants though and now have a nice row in my yard, all from seed! Please contact us and we can send you another packet of Lavender seeds to try. These can take up to 140 days to germinate and need alternate periods of cool and warm. Whilst challenging to get started, they are very easy to care for once going. Email our horticulturist, Susan, at hort@tmseeds.com - she can give you full details. The soil thermometer is actually a really neat gadget, specially graduated to monitor soil temperatures (from -40F thru 120F). Meat thermometers unfortunately can't monitor this range. This is a great purchase to help you get the right temperatures for your Lavender seeds to germinate and will last a lifetime. Hope to hear from you soon."

Orders were processed quickly and accurately. Germination......Well, that's a whole nuther story.

I ordered some Cowslips seeds from T&M back in early March. The price and shipping were reasonable and they were shipped promptly with adequate planting information, however I have tried plating them inside outside and everyway possible with no luck getting them to grow. Overall it was not a bad experience but the seeds didn't grow, whether it was me or the seeds I can't say for certain but I have had many other seeds grow perfectly.

I ordered nearly $300 worth seed 2007 spring. Many of the varietals I attempted to grow did not. Germination was overall poor, not consistent, erratic and less than probably 60% on many varietals. Of course I followed their directions and also consulted other online and published sources for information. Below are the main points I would like to make light of . . .

POSITIVE:
(1) nice selection of many harder-to-find and not run-of-the-mill seeds
(2) very good cultural information that is accurate and valuable
(3) easy to use and organized paper and online catalog
(4) my order was processed, delivered, and received in a relatively short amount of time
(5) seed packaging was hermetically sealed (perhaps the reason for $$$?); always good to keep the seed in stable environment

NEGATIVE:
(1) the occasional out-dated or incorrect information concerning names of various species
(2) poor germination due to possibly any of the following (age, viability, environmental factors, improper storage, etc)
(3) customer service was inept, rude, and apparently, no matter with whom I spoke to, not one seemed very willing or concerned
(4) email and catalog inquiries returned in an unprofessionally slow manner
(5) seed quantities fairly low for the price paid - granted some seed should be expected to be high (i.e. new cvs. just introduced to market)

Overall, I would say the experience was neutral but with more positive weight. Scale 1 - 5, 1=excellent and 5=very poor, I would assign a 2.5

"

Dear hortulaninobili,

I thank you for your constructive comments, but I am very concerned about the comments about the speed of response times, quality of customer service and the poor germination issues you have experienced, and apologize wholeheartedly for these. Please contact me on 1-800-274-7333 or email cwatson@tmseeds.com. Sincerely, Claire Watson, Vice President."

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!

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...

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.

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 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.)

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.

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.)

I purchased Coleus seeds in December. The germination percentage was very poor. I did contact the company for a replacement and received it very promptly. I think they should offer more seeds in the packets to offset the poor germination.

I'm somewhere in between with this company. There orders always arrive quickly. I have never had a back order. They offer some items that are hard to find elsewhere.

Once one of the packages of seed I ordered was empty, but they promptly sent me a package with seed in it.

However, they seem expensive. Sometimes the amount of seed you receive is small. A few things have not germinated.

A little pricey, but they have some seeds that aren't available elsewhere. Most of the time the seeds are fine, but at least on 2 or 3 occasions an entire pack failed to germinate. And the Cambridge Blue lobelia I ordered last year looked a lot like Riviera Blue Splash.

My experience has been that when they are good they are very good and when they are bad they are lousy. About 5 years ago I bought flowering cactus seed, which had 90% germination, and have grown and produced several flowers per season. But I bought lily seeds at $6 per 20 seeds, that had poor germination and the plants that grew were genetically strange. After suffering with them for several seasons I threw them out. Overall I have bought herbs, vegetables and annuals that have done well, but I have noticed a trend of poorer results from their seed in recent years

On the positive side, T&M offers new and interesting hybrids and varieties that are difficult or impossible to find anywhere else. Shipping is fast and germination has been average to good for me.
The major downside is the cost. T&M is one of the most expensive seed houses. There seems to be a minimum price per packet policy (around $2, though most seeds cost more) and it is annoying to have to spend $3 for 800 seeds of a variety when they could easily sell you 100 seed for $1.50.
The expense of that flashy color catalog undoubtedly adds to the price of their seeds.

I have ordered from T&M & other US companies for a number of years & this is the only one that charges duty. This only began 3 years ago. By the time you convert to US funds & add the duty it doubles the original price & with their high prices, it makes for a costly seed order. I will still order from them but will be very selective. I do enjoy their catalogue.

I LOVE their catalog. However I have had problems with germination rates. Example, I planted 10 flats of lupins on the same day using the same soil. 3 flats were T&M the rest were from other companies and trades. T&M - 10% germination the rest 90+%. I called customer service and got the seeds replaced. Customer service was great, the seeds were no better. I had the same problem with some rudbeckia and petunias. The petunias were also sold as pelleted seeds but weren't.

To be fair I have also purchased some good to really good seeds from them. And will purchase seeds from them again.

Bottom line -- Premium prices. Average to below average germination.

I would just like to decide for myself T&M's quality. I have written and called to receive their catalog, and nothing. Two different friends said they found a place to order it on the net and it took 6 weeks. My neighbor said she has called their phone number and requested a catalog for 3 or 4 years and has never received one. I am just wondering, if they are that busy, or what?

In general I have found this company satisfactory. I, too, however, found the biggest disappointments in the occasional expensive seeds (in the $5 range), which did not germinate. Of course, I do not know if this was due to seed quality or my lack of expertise. Their catalog is a true gem, full of helpful info and of course beautiful pictures. I do resent getting credit vouchers instead of refunds, but this practice seems to almost be the norm. The vouchers are too easy to lose before re-ordering the following year. If the merchandise is not provided, companies should not keep your money.