Thompson & Morgan's Flowers and Vegetables of the Year

Every year Thompson & Morgan names a new flower and vegetable seed introduction as its Flower of the Year and Vegetable of the Year. These are usually well-known, popular flowers and vegetables, but with an extra 'something' to make them just a bit more special.

Sweet Pea Prima 'Ballerina' - Flower of the Year 2012

With its unique veined flowers in lilac, purple and cream and delightful scent, Sweet Pea 'Prima Ballerina' is the perfect choice for the cutting garden. Bred by one of the world's leading sweet pea breeders and winner of the Fleuroselect Novelty award, these quality sweet peas grow up to 180cm tall and produce masses of blooms, with each stem averaging 4 blooms. Exclusive to Thompson & Morgan.

Buy Sweet Pea 'Prima Ballerina'

Pea Shiraz - Vegetable of the Year 2012

The first purple mangetout pea! The attractive bicoloured flowers form stunning flat, purple pods which are delicious raw and in stir fries. Pea Shiraz easy to grow and is best eaten when the pods are young, just as the seeds start to show. Resistance to powdery mildew and tolerance to downy mildew extend the sowing season to early July. Exclusive to Thompson & Morgan.

Buy Pea Shiraz

Sweet Pea 'Ballerina Blue' - Flower of the Year 2011

Bred by a Thompson & Morgan customer, 'Ballerina Blue' was the only sweet pea to win a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit in 2003! It's an outstanding sweet pea for the garden, where it will quickly cover trellis and obelisks with large, highly scented blooms.

Buy Sweet Pea 'Ballerina Blue'

Tomato Losetto - Vegetable of the Year 2011

The first blight-resistant basket tomato! Tomato blight is a real problem for gardeners and Losetto shows outstanding tolerance to this devastating fungus. It's perfect for hanging baskets, as there's no need for side-shooting. The sweet and juicy, cherry-sized fruits can be harvested from July to September.

Buy Tomato Losetto

Sweet Pea 'Heirloom Bicolour Mixed' - Flower of the Year 2010

This lovely climbing sweet pea is a mixture of old-fashioned varieties such as Indigo King, Butterfly, Lady Turrall, Painted Lady and Cupani. Offering a wide range of small-flowered, bi-coloured sweet peas, 'Heirloom Mixed' fills gardens and homes with the most delightful fragrance.

Buy Sweet Pea 'Heirloom Bicolour Mixed'

Runner Bean St. George - Vegetable of the Year 2010

A British-bred runner bean, St. George produces an early, heavy crop of smooth and fleshy pods that grow up to 30cm long and also earned it an RHS Award of Garden Merit. Pick them young for tender pods with little fibre or string. And did you know that growing sweet peas alongside or near your runner beans will attract bees and help to pollinate the red and white bean flowers?

Buy Runner Bean St. George

Nasturtium 'Cobra' - Flower of the Year 2009

Our flower breeders won a Fleuroselect Novelty mark back in 1999 for this beautiful new variety, but it took some years to build up the seed stock to be able to offer it to our customers. The bushy, dark-leaved plants will quickly trail through borders or over the sides of containers and baskets, whilst the contrasting dark red, double blooms, exclusive to this variety, make Cobra a spectacular 'must-have' for your garden this summer!

Buy Nasturtium 'Cobra'

Tomato Cherrola - Vegetable of the Year 2009

The winner of an RHS Award of Garden Merit, Tomato Cherrola stands out thanks to its extremely long trusses, often holding up to 20 tomatoes at any one time! The deliciously sweet and juicy fruits are perfect in summer salads or plucked straight from the vine as a healthy and tasty snack.

Buy Tomato Cherrola