This looks very pretty

This is listed on Thompson & Morgan as gerbera sweet glow. There seems to be varying colours of the same plant. Is this the case? Are these plants any good? Am I likely to find them locally? This is the sort of look I would like at the front of my Kiddie area border

G.

 

Sweet glow is just the Orange one.

Gerbera 'Sweet Glow' | Thompson & Morgan


....... G. Sweet honey...
Gerbera 'Sweet Honey' | Thompson & Morgan

..... G. Sweet dreams.

Gerbera 'Sweet Dreams' | Thompson & Morgan

They say they are exclusive to T & M.

 

They are not easy to grow and rarely flower that profusely, and with each flower perfect.

T&M are masters of photography.
Pity they are not quite so good at supplying seeds/plants.

Always sceptical with T&M.
Buyer beware.IMO

 

I have read the Forum thread on Thompson & Morgan. I don't want to be buying things mail order in any case. The bigger companies T&M, crocus, JParker etc give good descriptions of their plants. it gives me something to work with.

G.

 

I have a perennial gerbera......3 or 4 years old now. Pink and delightful. Long flowering. Prob not like the T & M pictures though. Whether it is hardy elsewhere is a doubt; depends how cold it gets with you there Gary.
Check out Paddocks Plants ....great prices and products.
You could get small plants to overwinter in a gh then plant out in the spring for summer long display.

 

There is a flower I like the look of outside a house down the street. I want to take a photo of it but I don't want to be caught in their garden. I guess I will have to camp outside and wait until I know they've gone out.

G.

 

I still only look on them as flowering house plants.

 

I've grown a couple of the so called hardy ones, and they do survive the normal winter here, but the flowering was never great, and were only kept going as something a bit different.

Eventually they got the heave ho, just much better things worthy of the space.

 

I agree, I admit I've never looked at growing them in the garden so I can't really comment, but I used to sell them as house plants and use them as cut flowers when I worked as a florist. The plants produced lots of short stems, the cut flowers (long stems) needed to be handled really carefully or they would collapse.

 

I bought one of the 'hardy' ones from Morrisons this year, and it has flowered very well. But T&M have probably put the flowers from half a dozen plants as if they are part of just one! And ones I bought previously have not survived winters, even in cold greenhouse.
@Jack Sparrow - for a kiddies area, just for summer, how about buying plugs of Livingstone daisies in late spring? Lovely sparkling flowers, low down, lots of them (though they need sunshine)

 

Gary, knock on the door and simply ask the householder what the flower is. He or she will be delighted you admire it.
I get that here now and then and it is pleasing to know something I have planted is enjoyed by someone else

 

Further to Caroline's suggestion, I grew Livingstone daisies from seed this year, really easily. Chucked the seeds in a topsoil and potting compost mix in a large pot and kept it in a sunny spot, watered regularly, sometimes with Tomorite. They came up a treat. Just now I have a mass of beautiful bright colours spilling over the pot. Only thing I will do differently next year is thin out the seedlings. My daisies look a little messy!

 

I saw this display today. It was taken in twilight so it might not be as impressive on screen.



G.

 

@Fat Controller . I think I might have been on Crocus' mailing list at one point. Unfortunately mail order isn't a realistic option for me. To justify the delivery charge I would have to buy all my plants in one hit. I couldn't afford to that. I also wouldn't be in a position to get all of those plants in the ground on time. Thankfully there are several garden centres and several more diy stores for me to choose from. If I look hard enough I'm sure I would find everything I need.

G.