Review of International Seeds suppliers - Thompson & Morgan

Earlier i posted a review of Chiltern Seeds UK. This is turn of Thompson and morgan. I m not sure though i have heard there is new management out there at Thompson and morgan and the standard of their quality and service is not as good as it use to be under previous management. Anyways, here is the review.

Pros: 
Promotions/Discounts: Probably this is the most alluring of all. After every few months they waive off P&P (Packing and Postage) which is around 4 pounds for international seeds delivery.They also announce a discount of 50% which is very handy. Special promotions are mostly at special occasions like Christmas.
Value seeds: There are many seeds packets which are sold at very low prices. These contain mostly the trial varieties or those varieties which do not sell hot.
3 for the price of 2: Choose any 3 seeds packets and pay for only 2. Price is fixed for all seeds packets in this category.
Voucher Codes: They use to send free 5 pounds voucher code with every printed catalog delivered. Although this does not happen often. Got a printed catalog this year but no free voucher code.

Cons: 
Poor germination rate: As compared to Chiltern Seeds UK, the germination rates of Thompson and morgan are quite low. No no wait, do not compare to anyone, germination rates are still not good enough. I bought lots of seeds packets this year. And quality was not which i expect from T&M.
Lack of variety: Very limited seeds. I can list hundreds of plant seeds which i expect T&M to have but they do not.

Please note that these are my personal experiences and other gardeners may have different point of view.

Review of International Seeds suppliers - Chiltern Seeds UK

Buying seeds online is not a big deal in countries like United states and United kingdom but buying seeds online from international seeds vendors is not something common in pakistan. The seeds shops in pakistan which are quite a few in number sell only annual flower seeds. No perennial seeds available. The only reason which i get to know is lack of customers. Although i doubt that.

I had a few experiences of buying seeds online from those seeds vendor which ship internationally so i thought i should share my experience as well as to have a little bit review and comparison of these big seeds vendors. The first is Chiltern seeds UK. They were the first i ever ordered from. Here are some pros and cons of Chiltern seeds.

Pros: 
Variety: There is hardly any plant which they do not have seeds for. From tropical water lilies to alpine wild flowers and from vegetable seeds to cactus seeds, they have got everything.
Mixtures: I love their mixtures. they have got so many of them and the seeds are great in number per packet. The few i got interested in were fragrant flower mixture, tropical seeds mixtures, butterfly attracting mixtures etc. They also offer anonymous mixtures as well. And last but not least the species mixture. Can you find somewhere a mixture of all the varieties of annual poppies in a single packet or all the varieties of lilies seeds in a single packet?
Free seeds/Bonus: They do give free mixtures of perennials or annuals or tree/shrubs with your next order but that's all.
Delivery Time: Very good. The packet reaches my country Pakistan just in 5 days as compared to Thompson and Morgan whose packet reaches me in 13 days.

Cons: 
No discounts/Voucher Codes: Unlike Thompson and Morgan, they do not provide any occasional discounts like 50% off or 10% off. They also do not give any free vouchers with the printed catalog. They did, however, put a sale of 1/3rd off last autumn and this was the first time they offered that. I hope they will offer this year as well.
No bulbs: Although they do provide some plants bulbs including achimenes but otherwise they so not sell bulbs/tubers, only seeds.

Overall They are the best seed suppliers in my opinion. I even rate them better than Thompson and morgan and parkseeds. In next post i will review Thompson and morgan international.