Pick something unusual that other catalogues don't stock.

I don't normally buy their stuff because it's pricey and they lied about the Acnistus australis! (Pretty, dainty blue flowers = insipid, small, washed-out-grey flowers.)

I've had problems with germination on a lot of unusual plants from T&M. I think the seed must be quite old or stale with such poor germination.

But on the acnistus, I did get one seed to make it and it grew big enough to produce some seed (rather sparse on the seed making though) and I grew one more plant from it (the first one died from becoming crowded out from trees). The second plant grew to a very nice shrub and produced hundreds of blooms. Unfortunately I was never able to propagate from this plant or find any seed and we left it when we moved. Here are some pictures of it after it was a few years old.

Get independent information about anything that stands out from the catalogue. Many stunning new introductions are not at all stunning when you actually grow them, some aren't even new introductions.

I have had seed with terrible germination and seed that germinated and grew into the wrong thing. T&M may well offer replacements in these situations, they did for me, but a new packet of seed after you've spent years growing the wrong plant isn't really what you want. I will never shop there again, not even for free.

Check The Garden Watchdog for any online garden company. T&M gets atrocious reviews, although not so many recently. Perhaps people with internet access have just stopped using them. I noticed that even the Daily Mail gave it bad marks in its rundown of mail order nurseries at the weekend, alongside an advert for T&M bedding plants :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Watchdog

I bought some Ipomoea alba seed from T&M this year, and so far every seed I've sown has germinated. There certainly seems to be something wrong at T&M, if nothing else a profound lack of enthusiasm for the whole business of producing a seed catalogue, and I don't like it when a firm thinks it should make a profit from the postage. I've switched to POD for things like zinnias and poppies, it may be superficial but they are making an effort with their catalogue, and they don't behave as though I haven't any choice but to get things from them.

Nowadays my only order to T&M is to use up the £5 voucher (plus any two packets of seed free) that they send me. I don't rate them highly on price, germination or quantity of seeds in a pack.

Given the favourable rate of exchange at the moment, it makes sense to switch to a US source if they have the seeds that you're after. JL Hudson is particularly good (although you need a PayPal account). I've also used Seedman. Even allowing for more expensive postage, it's still worth doing because the seeds are so much cheaper.

I made good experience with T&M and also had Acnistus australis. I got a big spectrum of flowers from white over gray to deep dark blue.

regards,
h.j.