Thompson and Morgan
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| Privately held | |
| Founded | 1855 Ipswich, England |
| Headquarters | Ipswich, England |
| Products | Seeds, young plants (UK), and garden sundries |
| Website | www |
Thompson & Morgan is an independently-owned company based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Founded in 1855, Thompson and Morgan offer English plants, seeds and sundries worldwide through their websites. The U.S. division of the company was sold to Gardens Alive in 2009.
The company distributes their products through its mail order catalogues, the Internet and retail outlets. Their various websites feature over 8,000 products, showcasing the entire Thompson and Morgan range.
Seed catalogues are distributed to 163 countries worldwide. Thompson and Morgan seeds are stocked in the following countries: Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, USA, Canada, Korea, and Japan.
Thompson and Morgan had its origins in a small garden behind a baker's shop in Ipswich, where a young William Thompson's passion for botany grew. His specialty was growing rare and unusual plants whose seeds were sent from countries all over the world. Not only did it provide a sense of adventure for Thompson, it also established friendships with such scientists as Charles Darwin, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker and Sir Michael Foster.
From the back garden he moved to a nursery at the edge of Ipswich and then to an even larger one. Eventually there were three of Thompson’s nurseries in the town. At this time, Thompson began to publish a magazine called The English Flower Garden.
In 1855, after moving from that small 'starter' garden, Thompson issued his first catalogue. He specialised in growing rare and unusual plants, seeds of which were sent to him from many overseas countries. His efforts made him one of the most distinguished plantsmen of his day and he was honored by the Royal Horticultural Society with the Victorian Medal of Honor in 1896.
With the seed-raising firm expanding, William Thompson started his partnership with John Morgan. John provided the business acumen that enabled Thompson & Morgan's continued solid growth. Thompson died in July 1903 at the age of 80, having lived to see Thompson & Morgan become one of the country's greatest seed firms with a reputation for introducing more species and varieties to the British gardening public than any other company.
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Wikipedia