Gardening
I’ve ordered from Thompson & Morgan from time to time over fifteen years of growing my own. A winter seed order is one of the quiet pleasures of the season — and done well, it saves money and avoids the over-ordering that leaves a drawer full of half-finished packets. This guide covers when to buy, what’s genuinely worth it, and how to avoid the seasonal promotions that look good but leave you with seeds you didn’t need.
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Last updated: July 2026. This is a year-round guide to saving at Thompson & Morgan — not just December.
Quick Picks — Practical Starts for UK Gardens
Carrot Fly Free Seed Collection — Good for allotments and veg beds where you want reliable carrots with less trouble. Carrot fly is a genuine problem on exposed plots; resistant varieties take the guesswork out.
See details at T&M →
Rainbow Salad Seed Growing Kit — Quick wins. A neat way to keep salads going without a big garden plan; I sow cut-and-come-again salads in batches from March through September.
See details at T&M →
Windowsill Seed Trays + Propagator Lids — Tidier indoor sowing with better germination in cold weather. Useful from January onwards for anything that needs warmth.
See details at T&M →
Frost Protection Fleece — The “false spring” insurance. I keep a roll on the plot from October to May. Worth far more than it costs on the one night you actually need it.
See details at T&M →
When to Buy Seeds and Bulbs in the UK
The biggest mistake I made in my early years of growing was buying everything in March when I could suddenly see the beds again. By then, the best variety selection is often gone, delivery slots are busy, and you’re ordering in a rush rather than with a plan.
Winter is the best time to buy seeds — not because of any particular promotion, but because you have time to think.
| Season | What to buy | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | Seeds for the year ahead; basic sowing kit; protection (fleece/cloches) | Best selection, lowest pressure, time to plan properly |
| Spring (Mar–May) | Plug plants; compost top-ups; supports; weather protection for cold snaps | Buying to match what you’re actually planting right now |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | Succession sowing seeds; netting/mesh; watering kit | Small top-ups keep harvests steady through gaps |
| Autumn (Sep–Nov) | Bulbs for spring colour; overwintering supplies; soil improvers | Autumn purchases make spring look effortless |
How to Save at Thompson & Morgan Year-Round
T&M runs the same types of promotions throughout the year; the trick is knowing which to use for your situation and when each type tends to appear.
Seasonal seed promotions: best for stocking up on staples — salad, carrots, onions, beetroot, herbs — plus one joyful experiment you wouldn’t usually try. January is the time to use them for a main annual order.
Bulb discounts (usually autumn/home-and-warmth/): ideal for pots and borders when you want early colour with minimal effort. I order spring bulbs in October and they reliably arrive in time for November planting.
Spend and save thresholds: most useful when you’re combining an order with an allotment neighbour. Splitting a larger order with someone else to clear a threshold is one of the better savings strategies I’ve found.
Clearance and end-of-season lines: practical for “supporting cast” items — labels, ties, canes, fleece, trays — where brand and colour don’t matter. I check these in July when the main season promotions have quietened.
A calm rule: buy seeds when you’re planning, buy plants when you’re ready to plant, and buy bulbs when you’re imagining next season’s colour. It prevents most impulse buying.
What to Buy by Season
Winter: the planning basket
A good January order has the same structure every year: a few reliable staples (salad mix, beetroot, climbing beans, courgette), one or two varieties to try for the first time, and any sowing kit you’ve run down over the previous year. On my chalk-based East Sussex plot, I always include something for dry conditions — drought-tolerant herbs, cut-and-come-again salads that cope with fast-draining soil.
- Staple seeds: salad, carrots, onions, beetroot — the reliable backbone of the year.
- Indoor cheer: a small salad kit is a genuinely useful winter purchase that pays back quickly.
- Seed-starting basics: trays, lids, and a propagator cover improve germination rates significantly in a cool house.
- Protection: fleece and a pop-up cloche cover the most common UK “false spring” moments.
Spring: the “do we have what we need?” basket
- Compost and soil improvers — especially important on light or chalky ground that needs regular organic matter.
- Supports: canes, ties, plant supports — the boring bits that prevent later problems.
- Backup protection: late frosts are common enough in East Sussex until mid-May that I keep fleece handy well into spring.
Autumn: the future spring basket
- Bulbs for pots and borders: crocus, dwarf narcissi, early tulips — the things that make February feel kinder. I plant these in pots on the allotment and they reliably deliver that first lift of colour when everything else is still dormant.
- Overwintering supplies: a roll of fleece and a few pegs can save a bed when forecasts turn sharp overnight.
Current Thompson & Morgan Offers
Offer codes and end dates change frequently. Rather than keeping potentially expired vouchers in the main body of this guide, I link directly to the current offers page:
Browse current Thompson & Morgan special offers →
If you’re reading this in winter: it’s usually the best moment to stock up on seeds for the year ahead and choose a few low-effort bulbs for early colour. In spring: check for plug plant availability and any “last chance” seed promotions before the range thins out.
FAQs
When is the best time to buy seeds in the UK?
Winter is ideal for your main annual order — the selection is at its widest and you have time to plan properly before spring pressure arrives. Buy staples in winter, then add anything you’ve run out of as you go through the season.
Can I still plant bulbs in winter?
If the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged, yes. I’ve planted bulbs in containers as late as January and still had good results — the pots just need protection from hard frosts. In borders, December is usually fine in milder parts of the south.
Should I use a voucher code or a spend-and-save offer?
Use whichever gives the bigger saving for your basket total. For small orders, a percentage code is usually better. For larger baskets — or combined orders with a neighbour — a spend-and-save threshold can be significantly better value.
How do I avoid over-ordering seeds?
Write your bed plan first, even roughly. Then decide which crops go in each bed. Then order. Over-ordering almost always happens during the “browsing phase” before you’ve thought about what you actually have room for. A quick sketch on scrap paper — just rectangles representing beds — takes five minutes and saves you from a drawer full of packets you’ll never use.
Some links in this guide are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
📋 From the D&L Shop: Planning your growing year? Our Your First Year on the Allotment guide covers every month from clearing the plot to your first proper harvest — written from 15+ years of UK growing experience. £9.99, instant PDF download. Also useful: the Allotment Plot Planner (£4.99) for mapping beds and planning crop rotation. Browse the full shop →
You might also find our guide to What to Sow in March and April in the UK: A Calm Growing Guide useful.
🛡 Our standards: How we research · Editorial policy · Affiliate disclosure · Corrections · Last reviewed: July 2026
About Gareth
Gareth Isherwood is the editor of Danbury & Lovejoy. He has baked bread at home for 25+ years and has 15 years of growing experience across gardens, containers and other growing spaces, including an East Sussex allotment for the past three years. Read his full story →
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