In This Issue
Business as usual at the Old Railway Line Garden Centre after sickness outbreak on Mother's Day
Doubt over new £60m garden centre and retail complex
Toys to gardening: Wyevale's new CEO starts on Monday
Mother’s Day provides a good boost to overall sales
Get involved with Garden Re-Leaf Day on Friday
Prizes worth £1,500 in Monkton Elm's Garden Re-Leaf raffle
24-hour 'Plant-athon' being staged at Squire's
Thompson & Morgan pays record amount for single seed
Bord na Móna UK expands customer services
You'll be full of beans - and zinnias - in 2017
Town & Country launches schools competition
EU postpones re-approval of glyphosate after objections from four states
This week is going to be difficult - but I'm determined to get there
Strictly Come Planting for the Klondyke Group
New Business Manager, Glee
Junior Buyer: Garden Care
Garden Centre Supervisor
Assistant Shop Manager
National Sales Manager Amenity and Landscaping Sector
Customer Service Assistant
Plant Area Manager (Full time, including alternate weekends)
Garden Centre Assistant Manager
Bedding Department Head (Full time, including alternate weekends)
Grounds Maintenance Team Leader / Supervisor
Plant Area Sales Assistant (Full time, including alternate weekends)
Area Sales Manager / Garden Centre & DIY
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Lighting shines brightly for garden product sales
Scotts Miracle-Gro Seed Pod makes its Veg-2-Gro debut
Growing media sales witness a slow down
Linked sales from Kent & Stowe to increase consumer spend
Fallen Fruits set to open Van Hage giftware display
Funeral service of Phil Kimberley
Kelkay supply essential pumps and lights for water features
Commemorative tree planted for Poundbury residents
Pimp Up Your Roundup is back for 2016
Pictures from The Greatest Christmas Gold-winning Teams
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
KitchenPod helps Frosts to improve café performance
Drinks firm offers centres Garden Re-Leaf help
Situations Vacant
New Business Manager, Glee
 
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Junior Buyer: Garden Care
Competitive salary
 
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Garden Centre Supervisor
Competitive salary
 
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Assistant Shop Manager
Competitive salary
 
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National Sales Manager Amenity and Landscaping Sector
Salary: Excellent
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Customer Service Assistant
Langlands Garden Centre - Leeds
 
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Plant Area Manager (Full time, including alternate weekends)
West Horsley KT24 6AR
 
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Garden Centre Assistant Manager
Salary: £18,000 - £21,000
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Bedding Department Head (Full time, including alternate weekends)
West Horsley KT24 6AR
 
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Grounds Maintenance Team Leader / Supervisor
Salary: £16,000 - £18,000 - dependent on experience
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Plant Area Sales Assistant (Full time, including alternate weekends)
Twickenham TW2 5PA
 
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Area Sales Manager / Garden Centre & DIY
Salary: Attractive
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Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700
Thompson & Morgan pays record amount for single seed


A bidding war at the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth World Conference has led to a record payout for a single pumpkin seed. British seed and young plant supplier Thompson & Morgan went head to head against the world’s pumpkin growing elite in a move to see the world record pumpkin weight brought to UK shores in 2016.

A standard packet of every-day pumpkin seed retails for as little as 99p for 10 seeds, but the chance to own potentially world record-breaking seed doesn’t come along often and attracts worldwide attention. More than 80 delegates from 11 countries attended the three day event (26-28Feb) at Pinetops Nurseries, Lymington, Hampshire – the first time the event has been held in the UK.

The attendance list read as a who’s-who of the pumpkin world and included the five best international pumpkin growers (all record breakers) alongside the UK’s very own specialists – Ian and Stuart Paton. The Hampshire twins have consistently upped the UK record weight in 40 years of growing, and even briefly held the European Record in 2014 until the world record was smashed in Switzerland.

Thompson & Morgan has long been the sponsor for the official UK Giant Pumpkin weigh in, held each October at The Autumn Pumpkin Festival, Netley Park, Southampton. Over the years it has paid out thousands of pounds for UK and European record breakers, but has never had to hand out the top £10,000 prize for a world record breaker.



The world’s most expensive pumpkin seed comes packed with inbuilt genetics from the current world record holder – a mammoth 2,323 lb (1054kg) specimen produced by Swiss grower Beni Meier in 2014.  At its peak of growth the giant piled on a staggering 44lbs of weight per day – stand and look for long enough and you could see it swelling with your own eyes. To keep up with the growth rate, the plant needed 150 gallons of fertilised water every day – equivalent to filling five household baths!

Bidding for the giant seed remained frantic until the £700 mark, it then fell down to just two interested parties; Thompson & Morgan Horticultural Director Paul Hansord and Eddie Zaychkowski,  a phone bidder calling in from Edmonton, Canada. The £1,250 selling price surpasses the previous £1,171 record price set in 2010.

Paul Hansord said: “The UK is home to some of the most passionate and dedicated pumpkin growers. Sadly none have been lucky enough to break the world record. To do that you need to start out with the best quality seed. Our spend on the Swiss seed may seem a high price to pay, but it will boost the genetics of UK plants moving forward and give us the best chance of seeing the world title brought to the UK for the first time. This seed and its parent represents a new generation of pumpkin breeding. The thickness of the flesh is much denser than older varieties, bringing more opportunity for heavyweight giants to be produced. Getting hold of this seed is the equivalent of buying Red Rum for stud use!”

You’d think that the seed specialist would want to keep a close eye on the growing of the pumpkin, but Mr Hansord is now seeking interest from UK veg growers willing to take on the seed and attempt to break the world record in their own gardens this summer.

He said: “We’re looking for someone with the passion, dedication and time to produce a giant specimen. The main season of care falls when we are all hands on deck with our mail order plant despatches. While we don’t have the time to look after the plant ourselves, we have all the tips and specialist knowledge to pass on to the chosen grower to give them the best success with the seed”.

To register your interest write to Paul, detailing where the plant will be grown and why you should be chosen to grow the seed. Don’t delay – the seed needs to be sown around 15th April for the best chance of success:

Paul Hansord
Giant Pumpkin Seed
Thompson & Morgan
Poplar Lane
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP8 5EU

Or email pressoffice@thompson-morgan.com

The resulting pumpkin will need to be entered for the weigh-in at the Autumn Pumpkin Festival, Netley Park, Southampton, 8th October

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