Shows
Becoming a Cut Flower GrowerImports vs British Flowers: Important Lessons For Growers & How We Could Work Better With FloristsHello, it's Tuesday 2 December 2025. Welcome to December!Tonight's episode is all about buying imports vs British-grown flowers (or wherever you're growing if you're not in the UK). It's a very hot topic and this episode is based entirely on a podcast I listened to this morning between two UK florists who talk about the pressure they feel to only use British flowers, and why they actually have to use Dutch imports.There are many reasons why florists can't rely on British flowers for 12 months a year: we just can't grow everything all year round so...
2025-12-0231 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerDahlias: To Lift Or Not To Lift? Pros & Cons Of Both Plus All The Jobs I Haven't Done This WeekHello, it's Friday 28 November 2025. Today's episode discusses the million-dollar dahlia question: to lift or not to lift tubers? It's a question that many growers have a dilemma about every year and I'm no exception. This year I'm leaving mine in the ground and I'll explain why here. The majority of this episode is therefore a discussion of the pros and cons of lifting - or not lifting - and the growing conditions that native dahlias thrive in. In other news, I've been busy measuring all of my bed space and calculating exactly how much I ha...
2025-11-2823 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerAll About Foliage: The Shrubs/Herbs/Fruit/Veg/Flowers That I'm Growing for GreeneryHello and welcome to a chilly Tuesday 25 November 2025. Tonight I'm talking about the foliage that I'm growing for 2026 and beyond. I realised that I needed more foliage about mid-way through this year when I suddenly started selling buckets and buckets of beech and hazel. Then I thought that perhaps I needed to buy some more foliage plants for adding to bouquets and mixed buckets and that's what I've been doing over the past few months. So in this episode I'm sharing what I'm growing and why. In other news, I'll update you on how I'm g...
2025-11-2522 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSnow! Learning From Free Online Courses, Tulips in Crates, Farm Stands & Quick Tips for Wreath-MakingHello, it's Friday 21 November 2025. Welcome - I'm in a much better mood tonight! It's been a busy week, both indoors and outdoors. My course is going well: module 2 has just dropped which is all about pricing. Can't wait to start that. Pricing is such a huge topic and one that not everyone talks about. I know I've struggled with it this year. I've also just taken a free online floristry tutorial with top florist, Joseph Massie, and I'm working my way through a Lennie Larkin course. She is holding a Flower Summit at the moment with lots o...
2025-11-2124 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerFaffing Around With Dahlias, Massive Flower Field Envy, Course Update & Winter Has ArrivedHello, welcome to Tuesday 18 November 2025. Winter is here! The temperature has plummeted and I'm bundled up in so many layers that it's hard to even bend down sometimes. Tonight's episode gives you an update of my progress on the new course with Jenny Marks of Trademark Farmer in the US, and news of what I've done with my dahlias over the weekend.Yesterday I visited a fellow grower's plot for a meet-up of local fellow growers which was very interesting and gave me the biggest plot envy ever! There's news about gathering holly for wreaths a...
2025-11-1815 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerTips for Surviving a Rainy November Day, How I'm Deciding Which Roses To Buy & My New Course Just Started!Hello, welcome to a very wet Friday 14 November 2025. I've just taken part in the first online 'welcome' meeting for the new course I've just enrolled on with Jenny Marks of Trademark Farmer and it was great. I've made a start on module 1 and there's a lot to take onboard. Today has been a wash-out in terms of heavy rain all day so I spent time this morning unblocking a gutter and getting soaked. Check your gutters before the rain comes!Tonight I'm talking about factors to consider when choosing my roses for 2026: there are so m...
2025-11-1421 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerA Unicorn Visits, More Shrub Planting, Tulips Ordered (Finally!) & I've Just Enrolled On A Proper Flower Farming CourseHello and welcome to 11 November 2025. There's so much to tell you about in this episode! Life in the cut flower field has been busy: my young cockerel, Lion, finally has his own enclosure and a wife (!); I've been drying more stems in the unlikely event that someone wants to buy them (or they end up in wreaths); physocarpus shrubs have been planted; achillea 'The Pearl' is being moved to a new bed; a new florist came to the plot to buy a mixed bucket this morning (very exciting) and it was great to tell her what I'll h...
2025-11-1126 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerMistakes! I've Made A Few! Here Are My Top 10 Mistakes When Transitioning from Gardening to Growing Cut FlowersHello. It's Friday 7 November 2025. Welcome to tonight's episode.Tonight it's all about mistakes I've made in 2025 because I've been thinking like a gardener rather than a cut flower grower. I have therefore compiled a list of the Top 10 mistakes I've made and I thought I'd share them with you in the hope that you won't make them!There are many benefits to having a background in gardening if you're thinking of establishing a cut flower grower (although I'd argue that a knowledge of marketing would probably be more helpful at times). The benefits include knowing...
2025-11-0728 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerEstablishing A Proper Foliage Bed, Digging Up Dahlias & Intercropping To Maximise SpaceHello. It's Tuesday 4 November 2025. Welcome to the latest episode.Another busy week: lots of planting new plants, particularly foliage in my new dedicated foliage bed, lifting and dividing of perennials, moving peonies, weeding, and watching the last of the strawflowers that the chickens haven't trampled putting on a lovely colourful display. I talk about how I'm getting on with making leaf mould this autumn, as well as the benefits of inter-cropping cut flowers amongst other plants to maximise yields. I'm also thinking about inter-cropping with vegetables next year so that I have more homegrown organic v...
2025-11-0419 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerRoselilies, Learning From Expert Growers & Growing Enough But Not Too Much: It's A (Very) Fine LineHello and welcome, it's Friday 31 October 2025. Happy Halloween (if you're celebrating it).Lots to tell you: today I bumped into my fabulous dahlia mentor, Richard Bailey, and he has lots of dahlia tubers for me. These are tubers from plants that he no longer wants and I'm very lucky to receive them. I have also been offered some beautiful pink Japanese anemones which I will be gratefully digging up next week.I've been learning a lot from fellow podcasters this week (links to the show are below), particularly about lilies. I adore lilies for their...
2025-10-3122 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerShop Til You Drop: More New Shrubs - What/Why/Prices & How Sales Channels Influence DecisionsHello, it's Tuesday 28 October 2025. Welcome to the latest episode :-)The clocks have just gone back which means shorter days and longer evenings: it's a great opportunity for plenty of studying in the evenings but I have to remember to get the hens to bed an hour earlier...I've had the busiest weekend planting out my new shrubs including the Hydrangea Limelights, Eucalyptus, Lilac and Cotinus, plus some raspberry canes and peonies that I transplanted from home. I also relocated my Verbena bonariensis from one area of the plot to another to make space for...
2025-10-2820 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerMixed Bouquet Recipes: I Have A New Spreadsheet For This, The Reliability of Perennials & Growing Cornflowers in 2026Hello and welcome to a slightly rainy Friday 24 October 2025. Straight into it tonight: let's talk about bouquet recipes. What are the categories of flower type and what months of the year am I growing in? What do I have flowering in each month and in each category? I've made (yet another) spreadsheet and this one has been illuminating so I'm going to talk you through it in this episode.I answer some really great questions from a listener about growing perennials and annuals and I hope the answers are interesting. I talk about the number o...
2025-10-2421 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerBuying Peonies From A Fellow Grower, Bed 4 Prep Is Finished & Retail Sales: How Does It Work?Hello and welcome to Tuesday 21 October 2025. Lots has happened and there is so much to tell you. I went to a fantastic peony sale held by a local cut flower grower on Saturday and picked up three new beautiful varieties which I'm excited about. I also finished prepping bed 4 and supervised the installation of a sink in Kylie's Room (aka the new studio/workshop), and cleaned out gutters to collect the incredible volumes of rainwater we've just had over the weekend. The main part of the episode is a conversation all about doing retail flowers in...
2025-10-2127 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhy Hydrangea 'Limelight' Is A Cut Flower Superstar and The Hens Cause Havoc In The Cut FlowersHello, it's Friday 17 October 2025. Welcome to today's episode!The hens are causing havoc in the flower area: I hope the vast amounts of poo they are depositing everywhere compensates for the destructive behaviour and that my echinacea recover from being trampled and used as a dust bathing area. I've been shopping for woody shrubs this week and the main part of this episode is me talking about my experience of growing Hydrangea paniculate 'Limelight' this year and why I'm such a huge fan of this plant for cut flowers. There are very good reasons why i...
2025-10-1721 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerIt's Cooling Down, Thank Yous, HRT Review & A Brilliant Visit To A Fellow Grower (Yippee!)Hello and welcome to Tuesday 14 October 2025. The temperature has noticeably dropped, especially at night. I haven't had a frost yet but it's definitely feeling autumnal.I've been messing around with the stems I have on the plot at the moment and trying out arrangements in a variety of vases and containers. It feels very indulgent to be able to do this because I didn't dare to touch anything during the summer in case my wedding florist wanted to buy any of them.Crop planning continues apace: there's a lot to consider to ensure that the...
2025-10-1418 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerLet The Hens Out With Me, Why Growing Cut Flowers Is Just A Tiny Part of the Business & Confidence-Boosting TipsHello and welcome to Friday 10 October 2025. Today's episode starts bright and early on the plot this morning as you're joining me letting the hens out and serving breakfasts. Great news - my poorly hen Mo has made an incredible recovery and has now rejoined the plot.In this episode I talk about my thoughts on confidence (or lack of) and how I really would benefit from having a life coach and a business coach on permanent speed-dial (hey, a girl can dream!). How do you manage your confidence levels? Finally I share 5 tips (an...
2025-10-1024 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPerennial Plugs Start To Arrive, Laying Homemade Compost, and Flirting With Retail: Getting BraveHello and welcome to Tuesday 7 October 2025. Good news: my dog now has super sparkly white teeth and my very poorly hen, Mo, has made a miraculous recovery after surgery. What a relief.Lots of activity on the plot including spreading some of my black-gold compost onto the newly prepared beds (compost is one thing I am actually really good at making) and this homemade compost will really help improve the soil. I've been busy making a new path to run down the centre of the plot so I don't have to keep brushing past plants a...
2025-10-0816 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPerennials, Shrubs & Roses I've Just Bought for 2026: All The Details, Plus Lost Keys On The PlotHello. It's a rainy and windy Friday 3 October 2025. You're joining me from a car park outside my vet where I'm waiting for my dog's teeth to be cleaned and for my little hen, Mo, to have some surgery. This week the podcast is celebrating 10k downloads which is amazing and very surprising. Thank you if you have contributed to this number - you're very welcome at every episode.I've been super busy tidying and weeding on the plot and yesterday I had a massive drama when I managed to lose my house and ca...
2025-10-0324 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerBusy, Busy, Busy: The Studio Is Nearly Finished, The New Beds Are Nearly Ready & What I've Just Bought To Grow in 2026Hello. It's Tuesday 30 September 2025. Welcome to the episode!Lots of activity on the plot to share with you: weeding beds 3 & 4, adding bark to bed 1, more cutting back and weeding, and mulching some of the perennials. Many of the zinnias have been cleared away because they've gone really mouldy, even though some of the flowers are ok.With some invaluable help I've finally finished my studio, aka 'Kylie's Room' and I'm really pleased with it. I now have lots of storage in the form of an old wardrobe and some chests of drawers, plus lots of...
2025-09-3021 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerNumber Crunching: Data Reconciliation Results Are Here, Most Profitable Cut Flowers Revealed & an Incredible (Improbable?) Net Profit MarginHello and welcome to tonight's episode on Friday 26 September 2025. It's spreadsheet time! I simply couldn't wait to do a reconciliation with all the data I've been collecting in 2025 so I've done an interim report this week and I'm excited to share my findings with you in this episode. I'm afraid I'm quite geeky so I took great pleasure in creating lots of tabs in my spreadsheets and then sorting all the data to work out my most profitable cut flowers. If you're interested in my findings then this is the episode for you!Other news f...
2025-09-2620 min
Chic to be cheapS2 E14: Feat. Lydia Watson 'Lending with Lyds'In a cost-of-living crisis, it can feel impossible to get your foot on the property ladder—but mortgage broker Lydia Watson, aka Lending with Lyds, is here to say: yes, you can still make it happen. She shares real, actionable advice on setting goals, making smart sacrifices and using new incentives to your advantage.We also unpack upcoming changes from 1st October, plus laughs, chaos, and real-life stories - including Maddy in all white… covered in mustard.Whether you’re aiming for your first home, planning ahead, or just love practical tips delivered with a...
2025-09-2451 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerAstrantia Finally Ready! Autumn Bed Prep Gets Underway, Soil Blocking & Winning Prizes at My Local Dahlia ShowHello and welcome. It's Tuesday 23 September 2025. Lots of news to share with you in this episode including my astrantia finally being ready, hub sales, connecting with a new florist, and making a website for the cut flowers. Also real progress is being made on the new beds on the plot, which is excellent. I've been adding lots of lovely chicken manure compost as a top dressing (I have a 'no till' system) and found plenty of worm casts, which is positive. I'm about to start experimenting with using a soil blocker to germinate my seeds and I'll l...
2025-09-2322 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerAll About Dahlias: Everything I've Learnt in 2025, Plus What's Looking Good Now & The Hens Help OutHello, it's Saturday 20 September 2025. Welcome to today's episode.In this first part of today's episode I'll fill you in on all the activity on the plot including rediscovering my cephalaria, harvesting seed, removing stakes and support string, planning new paths, and mapping out the new beds using my road pins. I chat about what's still flowering well and what's not looking so good in its current location, which is all useful information for crop planning in 2026.In the second part of the episode I talk through my key learnings from the dahlias this season. I...
2025-09-2025 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerVery Exciting Hub News, Making Connections on Insta & Why I Really Value Knowing My FloristsHello and welcome. It's Tuesday 16 September 2025. It's been a glorious autumn day today - just beautiful.This week I have been "testing" the local flower hub that I've joined. I say testing, because it turned out that it was actually live and I was actually selling to areal florists - scary stuff! The majority of this episode is me chatting about the testing process and the outcome of it all. I chat about my thoughts on the importance to me of understanding how my florists work so that I can serve them better. Maybe it's b...
2025-09-1620 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerMy Absolute Best Performing Cut Flower of 2025, How I'm Saving & Storing Seed, and Balancing Things to Reduce ChaosHello and welcome to Friday 12 September 2025. It's feeling quite autumnal tonight: the nights are drawing in quickly and there's a little bit of a chill to the air.My two wedding orders have gone out and I hope the brides enjoy seeing them. I managed to cut the flowers in the dry (one order by torchlight which is not ideal) but the foliage ended up getting cut in the rain, which was a messy business.Tonight I'm answering some questions that I've received. I love answering your questions so do feel free to ask away...
2025-09-1318 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerProblems Galore, Hormone Chaos, Poorly Hens, Over-Selling Hydrangeas & Baffling Sales FiguresHello. It's Tuesday 9 September 2025.Well it's been a weekend of bad stuff: an attempted fraud on my bank card, a cancelled bank card, failed card payments which meant no phone contract renewal (which meant no working phone), together with hormone dramas, plus poorly chickens and sadly one of them, Florence, passed away unexpectedly yesterday. So it's been a lot. I'm still busy on the plot: deadheading, cutting back, tending to the dahlias, negotiating sales with florists, co-ordinating availability lists, cutting and conditioning, practising my spiral hand-tied bouquets and wrapping them (with some success this time), p...
2025-09-0920 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerTwo New Florists Visit & Buy My Cut Flowers! Working Out My USP, Eucalyptus & Setting Up A StudioHello and welcome to Friday 5 September 2025.Where has the week gone?!? I have no idea. Time is just flying by. I've been busy on the plot deadheading, cutting things back and collecting seeds, in between the heavy rain showers. I can't wait to do a big tidy up and let the chickens enjoy rummaging around and fertilise the soil.I've had two new florists visit the plot and buy cut flowers from me, which has been great. I love showing people around and chatting about what's growing and what's to come in 2026. When it has...
2025-09-0515 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerCutting Foliage in the Rain, Visiting The National Dahlia Society Show Today & Did My Flowers Survive the Flower Festival?Hello and welcome to the latest episode: it's Tuesday 2 September 2025.Lots to tell you in this episode and I've divided it into two parts with a tiny bit of music in between so please don't switch off when you hear the music and think the episode has ended!I've been cutting flower stems and foliage for two florist collections tomorrow. These are new florists for me so I'm looking forward to welcoming them to the plot. I've also had an order from my lovely wedding florist for this weekend which needs cutting on Thursday. I...
2025-09-0327 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerRain Stops Play, Shattering Dahlias, Learning Where I'm Going Wrong & the Fabulous Flower FestivalHello and welcome! It's a wet Friday 29 August 2025.Good news: my electrics are fixed, yippee! We've had a lot of rain this week which has caused some issues on the plot by flattening things and adversely affecting the quality of some of my cut flower stems. I was up on the plot super early on Thursday to cut for the local Flower Festival in a nearby town. I attended the Festival tonight and it was quite emotional seeing my blooms in a range of beautiful arrangements.My studying continues with Lennie Larkin's incredible book, 'Flower...
2025-08-2914 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSelling Restarts, How To Pronounce 'Dahlia' & Plant Spacings: How Many per Square Metre?Hello and welcome! It's a warm evening on Tuesday 26 August 2025.Tonight I share with you all the latest news from my plot and also talk through the seeds I've just received for 2026 including stunning Orlaya and some (hopefully) pastel Zinnias. Selling stems has restarted after a short break and it feels great, the batch cooking has restarted and there's an update on Dolores.We need to talk about plant spacings: I have made a mess of it this year and so things have to be improved in 2026. I've been getting some answers for how densely...
2025-08-2622 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerLet the Hens Out WIth Me, De-Mystifying Cool-Season Annuals & Prepping for Multiple Orders Next WeekHello and welcome to today's episode: it's Saturday 23 August 2025 (not the 22nd like I say on the podcast).Join me on on the plot this morning as we let the chickens and ducks out together. It's been another busy week although somewhat quiet on the flower selling front. Still lots of watering to be done as we remain in drought conditions and lots of deadheading (although admittedly not as much as normal). Today I'm talking to you about cool-season annuals. Do you know what they are and why they're called 'cool-season annuals'? I've never understood w...
2025-08-2320 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerEye-Opening Flower Farming Books, Fence Panels are Up, Electrical Problems & Enormous DahliasHello and welcome to today's episode: it's Tuesday 19 August 2025.Lots of successes over the weekend: the fat hose worked brilliantly to transfer water from the back of the van to IBC1; the fence panels are up around the newly-cleared area and they're secure; there is now a skirt of chicken wire around the fence panels to keep unwanted creatures out; and the dahlias are looking incredible and very big! Some bad news: the new flower hub launch has been postponed until September, and poorly Dolores the duck has been to the vet for treatment: fingers crossed that...
2025-08-1923 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerIt's Time to Learn Some Business Skills, Fat Hose, Press Releases & My Top Tips for Setting Out a Cut Flower PlotHello and welcome to tonight's episode on Friday 15 August 2025.Lots to tell you! No more navel gazing about how badly I feel I'm doing! This week I was sent a message by a very kind listener from the USA with a book recommendation: Flower Farming for Profit by Lennie Larkin. I ordered the book, it arrived today and it looks brilliant and just what I need. I then did some more research and ordered another book by Lisa Mason Ziegler called The Cut Flower Handbook, which also arrived today and looks amazing. So I'll be reading these...
2025-08-1532 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerHeatwave Hell (Again), Doubts About Everything, The Key Colours I'm Growing in 2026 & Being BraveHello and welcome. It's Tuesday 11 August 2025 and it's really hot (yet again).We're in the midst of heatwave no. 4 right now and so I've been busy watering and mulching with bark to keep the moisture locked into the soil and try to slow the weeds down. In many places on the plot I have the healthiest and best-looking nettles in the world right now. I seriously considered quitting this weekend (partly because I had a cold from hell) but I refuse to be beaten by the weather and my inexperience so I'm ploughing on. I've b...
2025-08-1321 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerMade It Through Another Week, Dahlia Dis-Budding, Emergency Staking & Bracing for (Yet) Another HeatwaveHello, it's Friday 8 August 2025.You're joining me for this episode on the plot: it's a truly beautiful evening and at one point a bat actually flies right over my head. This week has been good in terms of the cut flowers and my lovely event florist collected an order from me this morning. I have also got my car back from the mechanic and my cold has gone, so all round, it's a win.I've got dahlia news for you from my mentor and expert dahlia grower, Richard Bailey, after my visit to see him...
2025-08-0816 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerVisiting a Fellow Grower, How My Availability List Works, Pumping Water & Shirley's Babies Have Arrived!Hello and welcome to a warm and sunny Tuesday 5 August 2025.I'm back to cheerful business this week. However, apologies for my voice on this episode: I have got a cold at the moment. I've topped up one of the IBCs with a new water pump, which has been great and saved a lot of effort with no spillage, although it took the same amount of time as doing it by hand. I've also been planting out more of my strawflowers: some of them are flowering nicely and they're very pretty. Some great news: my hen, S...
2025-08-0522 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerRain, My Car Broke Down, Sweetpeas & Zinnias Purchased for 2026, Jobs For The Weekend & Do I Need a Niche?Hello and a warm welcome to Friday 1 August 2025.Bit of a meh week! After praying for rain for months, it massively disrupted all my plans yesterday so today was a bit of a rush to fit everything in - and then my car broke down! On a roundabout! Not good. I've been feeling a bit flat this week because my marketing plan is clearly failing and I'm not connecting with enough florists so I'm feeling like I'm really letting my flowers down. They all deserve to be going to weddings and parties rather than just s...
2025-08-0217 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerA Fellow Grower Visits, Something Ate My Apples & Grasses, The Lavenders Are Coming Back & The Zinnias Are Kicking OffHello and welcome. It's Tuesday 29 July 2025 and I hope you had a good weekend. It's a warm and sunny evening tonight and I'm recording on the plot.I've been busy clearing thistles and watching fence posts being installed to support the fence panels that will be going up around the newly-cleared area. There's also been lots of cutting, weeding, deadheading and watering going on. I've also been busy contacting local florists and inviting them to the plot so I can show them what's available.The big flowers of the moment are zinnias and dahlias, whilst...
2025-07-2917 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPeri-Meno-ing and Cut Flowers, Most/Least Profitable Flowers & the Potted Lavenders SagaHello and welcome. It's Friday 25 July 2025. How is it Friday already?!?Today's episode is a little different: the first part is me talking frankly and honestly to you about the challenges of establishing a cut flower business with peri-menopause. It has not been easy! I discuss how my debilitating symptoms impacted on me at a time when I needed every bit of brain power to get going, and the far-reaching effects of peri-menopause on every aspect of my life and work. The podcast only happened this year because I finally sought help when I thought my life...
2025-07-2520 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerDahlias: Re-Staking & Thwarting Earwigs, Blush Flowers Needed, Dynamic Pricing, and How Intention & Values Shape GrowingHello and welcome. It's Tuesday 22 July 2025 and I've had to put a jumper on this evening for the first time in months. So much to tell you about this evening: I've been batch cooking dinners, collecting lots of rainwater, staking dahlias (properly this time), removing dahlia leaves to discourage earwigs, and deadheading cornflowers like mad (again). I've also had to deal with an unpleasant red mite infestation in the henhouse.I've been doing a lot of thinking this week: how can I have more blush-coloured flowers next year as I don't have anywhere near enough, t...
2025-07-2332 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerI Have Dahlias Flowering (At Last), Lots of Cutting for Weddings, Unwelcome Earwigs, and Rain Arrives At Last (Phew)Hello and welcome to warm evening on Friday 18 July 2025.Tonight I'm sharing all my news about cutting and selling my flowers: this week I've been cutting and conditioning for a Thursday morning collection to my wedding florist, as well as securing a (very) last-minute order for a client that I delivered to a marina this morning. I'll also be talking about preparing my availability list for my florist for a wedding she has next weekend.As well as all of that, there's more good dahlia news with some buds now fully open but the arrival...
2025-07-1915 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPricing: I Don't Know What I'm Doing, Oversharing (Am I?), & Challenges When Prepping For Upcoming WeddingsHello and welcome to a windy and cloudy Tuesday 15 July 2025.Today's episode includes a chat about the challenges of prepping for supplying the weddings that I have coming up and the problems I'm having with pricing: it's really hard. I'm not sure I'm getting it right yet, which bothers me. It's also challenging for me to ensure that all the cut flowers that I'm committing to supplying are looking fabulous when my florist comes to collect them, which is not easy in the current conditions.There is good news with the dahlias and some sad...
2025-07-1520 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerBig Problem: The Greenfly Are Back, Ridiculously Wrong Plant Spacings, Dahlia Labelling Disaster & My First Florist Plot VisitHello and welcome! It's the evening of Friday 11 July 2025 and I'm recording from the plot so the audio quality is a little bit up and down. I hope it doesn't bother you too much. It's so much nicer talking amongst the flowers than at home. Today's episode is a gentle evening walk-round of the plot and a chat about what's going on with everything I have, starting from the entrance gates and ending up at the far end. I'm talking about everything that I have growing on the plot and assessing the successes and the not-so-good ones. I...
2025-07-1125 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerHeatwave No. 3 is Here, My Shower is Full of Annabelles, Difficult Growing Conditions Mean Difficult Choices & Why I Don't Want to Sell my NigellaHello and welcome to this episode. It's a hot Tuesday 8 July 2025. I've been very busy on the field with dahlia staking (thanks to my birthday present of road pins), deadheading, staking and weeding. I really must sort the staking out earlier next year as it's a nightmare trying to do it when the plants are big and flowering. No dahlia flowers yet but any day now...I've also been busy on a big planting job for a couple of days which was nerve-wracking and either my hormones or my bolognese sauce conspired to make it e...
2025-07-0819 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSelling Has Finally Started, Nigella Finally Flowering, Zinnias Driving Me Mad, No Rain Yet, and It's My Birthday!Hello and welcome! It's Friday 4 July 2025 and it's my birthday! And Happy American Independence Day if you're celebrating that today!I'm on a massive high after selling 100 stems of cut flowers to my lovely event florist, Jo, so I chat about this and how I managed to get everything delivered without breaking anything or spilling any water (a miracle). There's a photo on my insta @henhillcutflowers so you can see one of the buckets. It's been quite a busy week as I took a day out to go to the beach with my other half t...
2025-07-0423 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerHot Flushes in a Heatwave (not fun!), New Gates, Prepping for a Wedding Order, Flower Hub News (it's very exciting!)Hello. It's Tuesday 1 July 2025 and I'm sweltering, even at 8am.Lots to tell you: we made some new gates to enter the plot over the weekend so that I don't have to go into Roland's enclosure every time. It's an improvement but then I managed to step on a bit of metal and injured my foot. Highs and lows! The sweetpeas are incredible and smell so good: they are a real success. It's such a busy time on the plot with all the watering, deadheading, weeding, and staking. Exciting news: I'm officially joining my local f...
2025-07-0120 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSix-Month Review: Good Times, Disasters, Cornflower Overload, What I've Learnt, Drought, Heatwaves, It's Been Alot!Hello. It's Friday 27 June 2025 and the mercury is rising once again.In this episode I talk about how the first six months of 2025 have been for me as a new cut flower grower and I hope you find it interesting. If you've been listening from the start then you'll recognise some of the issues raised, like the time I left a tap running and emptied out my own water storage tanks overnight. I discuss the highs and lows so far ranging from the excitement of actually selling stems to what to do with the ones I haven't...
2025-06-2821 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerCut Flower Farm Tours, Pitching Flowers to a Pub, Storage After Cutting & Daffodil Plans for 2026Hello and welcome to the latest episode: it's Tuesday 24 June 2025. The heatwave is over (thankfully) and now it's just annoyingly windy.First off, a clarification of my position on cut flower farm tours that give you lunch. I'm not knocking them - they're brilliant. I talk about the farm tour that I went on before I started growing and it was so inspiring. Here's the details of what I did and I highly recommend it: https://www.plantpassion.co.uk/field-tourPlot update: what's doing well, what's flowering, an Ammi and Nigella update, and the s...
2025-06-2420 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerI Just Sold my First Stems! Demystifying Pricing, Expert Dahlia Tips, Cornwall Grower Visit Report PLUS How to Choose TulipsHeatwave! Good evening, it's Friday 20 June 2025 and it's very hot! Good news: I've just sold my first stems! I was beginning to wonder if this would ever happen and now it has. All the news about this including how I priced it and the stresses of physically delivering them (it's harder than it looks). It's a long episode because I have so much to tell you including useful tips from my expert dahlia grower, Richard, what I've been cutting from the plot this week, how I've been getting on making hand-ties (badly), plus my report fr...
2025-06-2041 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWelcome Back, Sweetpea Mishaps, Stunted Growth, Plant Spacings, and Is It Bindweed or a Bean?I'm back from my break and delighted to welcome you to the latest episode. It's Tuesday 17 June 2025 and it's been a super hot day.I was in Cornwall last week but I still have so much to share with you today including why it's not a good idea to take a break during the flowering season, what happened in my absence and what's happening now that I'm back. I talk about the plants that are flowering on the plot right now and those that are just about to flower, plus how big my weeds are, a...
2025-06-1823 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerThe Importance of Pinching Out, IBC dramas, Bouquet-Making Tutorials & Burnt Fish FingersHello and a very warm welcome to this episode. It's Friday 6 June 2025 and I'm talking to you from the plot. I don't know where this week has gone: it's been busy. We had a whole day of rain which has been an enormous help for the plants. This happened after I manually topped up the IBCs with water from home, which was a whole big drama. Everything on the plot is doing fine and I'm excited to see that the cornflowers are just about to burst into flower. I've been pinching out the calendulas and sn...
2025-06-0708 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerRain, Pests Update, How I've Made my New Beds & What's Flowering NowGood evening. It's Tuesday 3 June 2025 and I'm talking to you from the plot. We've had rain! Not enough by far but it's very welcome and the seedlings have really enjoyed it. The water levels in the IBCs are critically low but I'm hopeful that the rain still to come later this week will help. Lots of updates from the plot: all of the dahlias are in and I've been making some new beds on the newly-lifted turf area and adding old waste material from the duck house which has rotted down. I'm not digging it in...
2025-06-0314 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerDahlia Planting Challenges, It's All About Seasonality, Glyphosate Spillage Drama & Insta Envy (Again)Hi! It's Friday 30 May 2025: welcome to today's episode!It's the end of another busy week and (finally!) the end of May, which I'm quite pleased about. Roll on, June! News from the plot includes the hiccups getting the dahlias in the ground, a couple of zinnias damping off, cornflower staking experiments and another lack-of-water issue. I also managed to spill lots of Roundup in the back of my car which has been a pain to sort out: I'm 100% chemical free (and always have been) and was doing a favour for someone in transporting it. Big mistake! Huge...
2025-05-3126 min
Twisted and UncorkedTruly Twisted Presents: Ep 8 | The Tragic Deaths of Lydia and Alec MaterOn May 20th 2024 tragedy would strike for Hope Mater when her ex-husband Brock committed an unthinkable act, ending his own life and that of their two children Lydia and Alec. This week I have Hope on the show to discuss her story and her goals and mission for the future. Please continue to support Hope and follow her journey on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube at the links below. https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.painhttps://www.youtube.com/@Hopeinthepain
2025-05-291h 01Becoming a Cut Flower GrowerBlackfly, High Winds, Not Enough Rain, Not Enough Time, Absolutely No Money & Lessons for Spring 2026Hello. It's Wednesday 28 May 2025 and I'm very happy to welcome you to this episode.There's so much to share with you today including an update on my dahlias, what happened to the cornflowers and the leucanthemum in the wind, and how I've been dealing with a blackfly invasion. I've also taken a headcount of the seedlings which still need to be planted out and it's quite daunting: there aren't enough hours in the day.Today I saw Rosa 'Juliet' for the first time. It's a stunning David Austin rose created specifically for their wedding and...
2025-05-2822 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerDahlia Planting Tips from a Pro, Attack of the Greenfly, My Watering System Explained & Living Paths: Yes or No?Hello and welcome to this episode, recorded on Friday 23 May 2025. It's been a really busy few days since my last episode: I've been planting out my dahlia tubers plus some seedlings, weeding around my perennials, and tidying up my living paths. Sometimes I'm in two minds about living paths: are they a good idea or not? They need maintaining, which takes time, but I do like them. I also love bark paths which don't need maintaining, so I'm a bit on the fence but overall I think I will keep some of my living paths and replace o...
2025-05-2432 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSo Busy!!! Zinnias are Out, No More Nigella, Interplanting, Green Manures, Flirting with Roses & Coping with The Driest Spring in Over 100 YearsHello. It's Tuesday 20 May 2025, it's 10pm and I'm recording this while boiling spaghetti and microwaving some bolognese sauce. Batch cooking (and reheating) is the only way I get to eat properly right now.I have lots to share with you as I've been really busy on the plot since the last episode. Seedlings have been going out, including zinnias, orlaya, nigella and snaps (plus courgettes, broad beans, peas and sweetcorn). And I finally got to use the recycled steel 'rebar' trellis for my peas - very excited about that. The larger of the two new g...
2025-05-2120 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerNigel, the Digger Man has Lifted my Turf! All the News About ThatHello. It's Thursday 15 May 2025 and I'm talking to you from the plot. Exciting news that the Digger Man, Nigel, came yesterday to lift the turf on my plot and it' amazing to have more growing space. Quite a lot more, in fact: an additional 171 square metres. He did an excellent job and was a very nice man. I had an emergency with one of my chickens just before he arrived so this is a really quick episode to update you on the turf-lifting and then I'll have more to tell you next week. In...
2025-05-1615 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPrepping for Digger Man, Attack of Dahlia Gall, Hosepipe Dramas & Selling Single Variety Cut Flower BouquetsIt's Tuesday 13 May 2025: welcome to today's episode. Beautiful sunshine but still no rain. I'm running low on water so it's a bit of a tense time. Tonight I'm on the plot talking about how I'm managing my seedlings in the hot and dry conditions. Some plants are doing fine but I really wish I had more water right now.The digger man is booked for tomorrow and I'm very excited. Having more turf lifted will double my planting area so I can't wait but I'm slightly holding my breath until he arrives and does the w...
2025-05-1323 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerThe Importance of Data Collection, The Dahlias Are Moving Out, Get Comfortable with Competition & Encouraging Brides to Buy Seasonal Local Cut FlowersIt's Friday 9 May 2025 and another gorgeous evening. I've recorded this episode at home tonight, out of the wind, so the audio quality is much better than the last episode (sorry about that one). Executive decision: the dahlias are finally moving outside this weekend! They have had enough of being inside (and I want my living room back) so they're going out to be hardened off before being planted out on the plot. I talk about the importance of data collection for my cut flowers and how I'm getting on with collecting information like the time it takes m...
2025-05-0927 min
Truly TwistedEp 8 | The Tragic Deaths of Lydia and Alec MaterOn May 20th 2024 tragedy would strike for Hope Mater when her ex-husband Brock committed an unthinkable act, ending his own life and that of their two children Lydia and Alec. This week I have Hope on the show to discuss her story and her goals and mission for the future. Please continue to support Hope and follow her journey on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube at the links below. https://www.instagram.com/hope_in_the_pain/https://www.tiktok.com/@hope.in.the.painhttps://www.youtube.com/@HopeinthepainJoin me on social med...
2025-05-081h 01Becoming a Cut Flower GrowerPlanting Out Hardy Annuals, Planning for Tulips in 2026 & Talking To Others When It Gets ToughIt's 8:30pm on Tuesday 6 May 2025 and a really beautiful evening.You join me for this episode on the plot as I'm planting out some of my hardy annual seedlings (calendula, orlaya and scabious). It's been a busy bank holiday weekend for me and I haven't had as much time on the plot as I would like so I'm up here this evening getting things done and sharing this with you.I've spent today thinking about tulips for 2026: it's never too soon to start planning for them. I've decided to only grow certain types (parrot, viridiflora...
2025-05-0618 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhat No-One Tells You About Being a New Cut Flower Grower: the Harsh Reality, Challenges, Worries & StressesIt's 8:30am on Friday 2 May 2025 and it's another beautiful sunny day.What a busy week! I've been juggling a lot of things this week and it got me thinking about what I've learned about starting to grow cut flowers and what no-one tells you! So I have created quite a long list of things I'm learning the hard way and I'd like to share them with you. From not having enough money, time or water to the many demands on your time in every aspect of your life, I'm talking about it all. The seedlings a...
2025-05-0229 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerCoping with Seedlings During a Heatwave, Troubleshooting When Planting Seedlings Close Together & Carving Out Time to Stay Calm and FocusedThe chickens are back on the podcast! It's Tuesday 29 April 2025 and it's very hot.Join me for this episode on a really beautiful spring day, which started off well then turned out to be a bit too busy and fraught for my liking. I am in charge of the diary so that's entirely my fault. While I'm letting the hens out this morning I talk about water (again), the planting out of my nigella seedlings, and my tough-love watering policy to ensure that plants get their roots down quickly and don't become reliant on me constantly watering...
2025-04-2921 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerMini-Digger Excitement! Dahlia Cuttings with Hollow Stems - What Do They Mean for Cut Flowers?Great excitement: I've just been speaking to a landscaper about using a mini-digger to lift some turf for me to really expand my growing space. I can't wait! I recorded this episode on Thursday 24 April 2025 in the afternoon and it's cool and breezy today.I did a reconciliation of how many seedlings I have and it's ALOT! It made me realise that I need more growing space urgently so I've decided to hire a landscaper to remove some turf for me. I can't physically do any more myself.In this episode I'm talking about my...
2025-04-2515 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPros & Cons: Seed Scattering or Straight Lines? Dahlias Straight in the Ground or Potted On First? Zinnias: no cons, only prosIt's a sunny lunchtime on Tuesday 22 April 2025 and I'm basking in the warmth of the greenhouse.I'm busy sowing more seeds and today I'm discussing the pros and cons of two different sowing styles: scattergun approach or straight lines. Which one do you use? I prefer the straight lines method as I can count how many plants I have and each plant can stay in its tray for longer before going on the plot, which saves time. But you can't fit as many seeds in each tray so you end up needing more trays which takes up...
2025-04-2222 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerHappy Easter! Plot Update, Acquiring Perennials on a Budget, Tummy Troubles & Keeping Mint ContainedHappy Easter! It's 8pm on Good Friday, 18 April 2025 and I'm on the plot.It has definitely not been my week! After the water debacle on Tuesday I managed to get a tummy bug which has been unpleasant and this afternoon I wasn't even able to leave the house because of it. And whilst I've had tummy trouble all week I've had to do some regular gardening to get some cash in the door which has meant that I haven't been sowing any more seed this week. I haven't done a review of what's growing on t...
2025-04-1820 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerFirst Epic Disaster of the Year, Splitting Dahlias, Cornflowers & Sweetpeas Get Planted OutIt's Tuesday 15 April 2025 and this week has started really badly: I left a tap running last night and managed to drain my two full water bowsers. Overnight I've lost over a thousand litres of water. The timing is awful and I'm very disappointed in myself.I also managed to forget to close the greenhouse door last night, which is not like me. Luckily we didn't have a frost so everyone was fine but it could have been a lot worse. So this episode is a bit low-key as you'll probably be able to tell from my voice...
2025-04-1517 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPlant Spacings: Crucial for Calculating Production Costs, plus Road Pins vs Fence Posts & Making Jute Netting with StringIt's Friday 11 April 2025 and another incredibly sunny day. Still no rain but hopefully it's coming next week.I'll be updating you on what I've been sowing this week and the new sowing chart that I've made to help me remember when to sow the next batch (it's all about successional sowing this year). I discuss my morning feeling routine and how I work out which seedlings get to spend the day where, depending on the day's temperature and their stage of growth. I usually do this with a coffee (see photo on insta @henhillcutflowers) and I water...
2025-04-1116 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerOvercoming Imposter Syndrome & Fear of Failure, Plus Doors to Manual, Storing Water & More New SeedsIt's another glorious week of sunshine and dry weather and the shed doors are finally on! Today it's Tuesday 8 April 2025 and I'm pleased to update you on what's been going on since my last episode. I've been busy planting out foxgloves, peonies and raspberries, plus I made a new access path for the plot (and hung a new gate that I made myself, which I'm very proud of!). I talk about storing water, even if you're on the mains. You can't really store enough water and I'm a big fan of water butts, IBCs, guttering on...
2025-04-0830 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerDahlia Tips & Techniques from a Pro Exhibitor for Waking, Dividing, Taking Cuttings & Sowing Dahlia SeedsIt's Friday 4 April 2025 and if you're a dahlia-fan then this is the episode for you. Join me as I share everything I learnt this beautifully sunny morning from my dahlia mentor, Richard Bailey, including tips and tricks for success with these beautiful plants. Richard is a prize-winning dahlia exhibitor and a Vice President of the National Dahlia Society in the UK. He's been exhibiting for years with much success, having learnt from some of the most eminent UK dahlia exhibitors himself. Richard is very generous with his time and he loves nothing more than sharing his dahlia k...
2025-04-0423 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerBasking in Sunshine, Bed-making, Turning Compost & Making a Planting Plan for my Cut FlowersThere's a lot going on at the moment! Join me on the plot in the fabulous sunshine today, Tuesday 1 April (how is it April already???) as I update you on what I've been upto, including seed sowing, monitoring production costs, ordering more seeds, selecting new dahlias, making new beds, rearranging fence panels, moving the contents of the compost heap into an empty bay plus a whole lot more. This weather is proving wonderful for germination: my seeds are coming up really quickly so I have a bit of a merry-go-round system going with seeds germinating inside and t...
2025-04-0119 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerAn Epiphany! Shrinkage! Pricing Disasters! Profit Margins! Production Costs! It's All Here.I've had an epiphany! I've been listening to a new podcast and it's made me think really hard about the "business" side of what I'm doing so I have paused with the seed sowing for a moment to give this some thought. I've been learning about production costs, overheads, profit margins, and calculating profitability per square metre. I'm a data nerd so I'm suddenly really excited about all of this data collection and analysis: I love it and I can't wait to see what it tells me about what I'm doing on the plot.I've grouped my...
2025-03-2728 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerIt's Time to Wake the Dahlias & The Ultimate FREE Liquid FertiliserIt's a beautiful week and I've been busy. It's a bit overwhelming at times: I feel like I have so many things to do all at the same time and sometimes it's hard to work out what I should be doing first. Normally I'm pretty good at prioritising but at this time of year it's challenging...In this episode I take a breather from digging up nettles and do a brief review of what's happening on the plot this week including: admiring the coppiced hazel poles, conserving water in the bowsers, enjoying the naturally-growing daffodils, PLUS what...
2025-03-2622 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerQ&A Session with the CEO (that's me). And I Talk About Profitability, which is Very Important.What a gorgeous week: it's been very warm and sunny in the last couple of days, which has made me feel very excited about spring. And also slightly overwhelmed. I look at my seed trays and simultaneously think "Oh there are SO MANY!" and also "Oh I don't have enough!". But it's all fine: it's just what happens at this time of year.Lots of updates for you in this episode including the progress of my seed germination, some vegetable seed sowing, the fate of the Victoria plum, and what I've been doing with my compost at...
2025-03-2019 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWe Have Germination! And Backup Plans: I Need One. Do YOU Have One?It's been a really busy few days: some of the new seeds that were sown last week have germinated, the new beds have been marked out with string, a whole new planting area has been created, I finally found my missing broad bean seeds (yipeeeeee!), more seeds have been sown, the sun has been shining and it's warming up nicely.I've been thinking a lot over the weekend about a backup plan: what happens if my main cut flower buyer for 2025 can't take my flowers? What would I do? Where else would I sell them? I need...
2025-03-1918 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerScabious: Focal or Filler? Or Both?! More Seed Sowing. And Quiche!I went to the garden centre just to buy a ball of string to finish marking out the new cut flower beds and came home with some lovely new flowers seeds!In this first part of this episode I'm back in the greenhouse on a warm and bright afternoon sowing more of my cut flower seeds as well as the new ones that I picked up in the garden centre. As I'm sowing (you can hear me rummaging in the background as I fill up trays with compost) I have a moan about podcast adverts, I talk...
2025-03-1328 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerJoin Me in the Greenhouse as I'm Doing Some Things Differently This YearIt's Tuesday 10 March 2025 and I'm in the greenhouse this afternoon, sowing more cut flower seeds. Come and join me as I'm sowing Achillea, Cephalaria, Centaurea, Crespedia, Zinnia and Orlaya. It's much cooler this week: the weekend was positively balmy and it was wonderful to have so much sunshine. It really felt like Spring had arrived. And then it cooled rapidly!As I'm sowing I talk about what containers I'm sowing into this year (and why it's different to previous years), how I clean my labels, the beauty of cornflower seeds (little rockets!!), the work I got done...
2025-03-1133 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhat Happens When you're Ill? Let me tell you...!I was SO looking forward to getting started on my seed sowing this week! And then I was thwarted by a really nasty cold so I ended up sleeping a lot, watching Netflix and endlessly re-reading the latest David Austin rose catalogue. So the first half of this episode is me with a rather croaky voice and a bunged-up nose talking about that. Luckily the second half improves when I was well enough to get into the greenhouse and start sowing my sweetpeas! And the word I was struggling to remember when discussing why I wanted to g...
2025-03-0723 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerHow I Chose the Cut Flowers I'm Growing & Factors You Need to ConsiderThis week got off to an absolutely freezing (but beautiful) start. Unfortunately it was far too cold for me to be sowing seeds in the greenhouse so I have recorded a longer podcast instead.In this episode I answer a question from a listener about exactly how I chose the seeds I'm growing for cut flowers and I explain my thought process. I clarify what I meant in episode 15 about 'filler flowers' and the different types of flowers you find in an arrangement. I also venture into my greenhouse (the old one) and see what has survived...
2025-03-0528 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhat I'm Growing from Seed in 2025: Introducing my New SeedsIt's the last day of February today which means two things: one, I'll be moving home tomorrow and two, it's time to start sowing seeds! Yipee! Once I've unpacked and got settled, I'll be getting busy in the greenhouse...Before all that fun, today's episode is me talking you through the 15 new varieties of flowers I'm going to grow this year from seed. Purchased last year (I was ahead of the curve, for once!) and itching to get going, these seeds are going to be my main focus of attention this summer. Ranging from a diminutive 45cm...
2025-02-2822 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerDon't Put A Greenhouse Under A Tree! Plus I Collected my Greenhouse this WeekendI'm excited to tell you that I've spent today dismantling my newly acquired (third-hand) greenhouse and transporting it to my plot. It was hard work and very tiring but only three panes of glass got broken (not bad) and no injuries at all (even better!). This is my second greenhouse and in this episode I talk about the differences between this one and my original one, together with why greenhouses are really useful to growers. I talk about the layouts of my greenhouses, the types of base/floor I have and what I'm planning on doing in the new...
2025-02-2626 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhat's Really Holding YOU Back from Growing Cut Flowers?It's time to put our cards on the table and answer this question: what's stopping you from becoming a cut flower grower? It's been a rainy old week yet on the sunniest two days I wasn't around to get on the plot but as the ground is still so wet, it's not a huge problem. So I'm talking to you in this episode from the warmth and dryness of indoors, where I'm really analysing what sort of things hold us back from starting to grow and sell cut flowers. By challenging as many reasons as I...
2025-02-2119 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhy I Don't Use Chemicals on my Cut Flowers & How to Tackle Weeds EffectivelyJoin me on my frosty plot this morning as I let the hens out and find out if my young hen Kylie is still broody! In today's episode I'm answering a really great question from a listener about weeds: love them or hate them, you're going to get some! It's never too early to start thinking about weeds and it's how you deal with them that matters: spend your time wisely! Whether you're going down the chemical route or not, decide your weed strategy early on. I talk about my refusal to use man-made chemicals...
2025-02-1817 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWho Do I Sell to? How Do I Find my Cut Flower Customers?Have you thought about exactly who you're going to sell your flowers to? Before you sow any seeds or buy any plants, start thinking about this crucial part of the process right now. Are you dreaming of turning your cut flowers into bouquets and selling directly to customers at a local market? Or would you prefer to sell to florists? What sort of florists do you have in your area and would they buy from you? How easy do you find rejection? Do you hate hearing the word "no"? There's a lot to get through...
2025-02-1421 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerStoring Seeds & Money Saving Tips for Making Your Own Seed CompostIt's February so let's talk about seeds! Collecting, drying, storing and saving, plus some seeds to avoid and the best seed compost. Everyone is talking about seeds right now and I'm certainly thinking about mine. In this episode I explain why seeds are saved from one year to the next and I cover the basics of how to store your seeds. Plus I talk about tricky seeds that need special conditions to germinate (and which are possibly best avoided if you're a novice). Finally I talk about how I make my own seed compost (and potting on c...
2025-02-1214 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhich Cut Flowers Should I Grow? How to Select the Best OnesAre you wondering which cut flowers you should grow? Are you confused by all the choices and not sure which will suit your needs or your budget? Are you thinking about the impact of vase life, stem length or scent? In this episode, I’m diving into how to select the best cut flowers to grow. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:✅ What makes a flower ideal for cutting✅ Easy-to-grow varieties for budget-conscious growers✅ The importance of understanding what your target market wants✅ How to c...
2025-02-0813 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSweetpeas: Perfect for Dramatic Scented Cut FlowersThis week got off to a rather chilly, murky, and drizzly start. However there's nothing like the thought of hundreds of gloriously coloured and heavily scented sweetpeas to cheer me up.My sweetpea story starts with a holiday outing to buy raw milk on a farm in Dorset which led to the discovery of a fantastic supplier of sweetpeas. I share the types of sweetpeas I ordered in 2024 for the 2025 season, why I have committed to removing tendrils this year (a challenge too far, perhaps?!?) and why I'm busy collecting and storing toilet roll tubes. I talk...
2025-02-0415 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerWhich Dahlias Do I Need? How Do I Choose?Dahlias are the queens of the cut flower world. They are achingly beautiful and come in a vast array of varieties, colours and shapes. Join me behind the scenes while I plan my 2025 dahlia beds. Today I talk about the nursery I visited in September 2024 to look at some selections (with obligatory notepad and pen), a brief bit about apprenticing with Richard Bailey (a top prize-winning dahlia exhibitor and a truly wonderful human being, more to come about him in future episodes), the dahlia nursery that I'm ordering from, the agonies of choosing (there are so many d...
2025-02-0118 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerPerennials: What Worked in 2024 and What's New for 2025Hello and welcome to a rainy episode. Join me today as we let the chickens out first thing this morning for a warm scrambled egg breakfast (them, not me) and I talk about the perennials I grew on the plot in 2024. I'll share with you why perennials can form the low-maintenance backbone of your cut flower plot, and how to do this according to your own budget. Hear about where I sourced my perennials from, including the garden of a favourite client who sadly passed away, as well as plant sales, seed I've sown myself, and a very special...
2025-01-2922 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerReview of 2024 Cut Flower Trial Beds: Important Lessons to LearnIn today's episode I review the cut flowers I grew in my 2024 trial beds. I talk about what cut flowers I planned to grow and why, what I actually ended up growing, which cut flowers turned out well and why, what the florists loved, what I didn't like, where I sourced my cut flower seeds, the seeds which flourished and those which either didn't germinate or turned out to be something else entirely, my cosmos disaster, the strawflowers that didn't have time to flower and everything in between. I don't pretend to be an expert because I'm absolutely not...
2025-01-2417 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerSet Growing Goals and Why You Must Store WaterHello and welcome. Join me on today's episode as I let the hens out into a chilly and misty morning and chat with you about the merits of tables, the importance of somewhere to sit on your plot, the benefits of making detailed notes about everything you do, and I answer a very good question about whether you actually need prior experience of sowing and growing before you start with cut flowers. I go into details about my own water storage facilities and the serious mistake I made in 2024 that meant I nearly ran out of water. Finally I...
2025-01-2223 minBecoming a Cut Flower GrowerCut Flowers: What you really DO and DON'T need to get startedHello and welcome. In this episode I bust some myths about what you do and don't need to get started growing cut flowers, plus a few things that would be ideal. If you're dreaming of starting your own cut flower business, you might be interested to hear about whether or not you really need to own your own land, what qualifications you should get, whether or not you need a greenhouse, and my thoughts on websites and social media. I also talk about resilience in the face of adversity (i.e. dealing with the British weather), confidence (or lack...
2025-01-1722 min
Wednesdays With Watson: Faith & Trauma Amy Watson- PTSD Patient-Trauma SurvivorMillennial Generation: Finding Strength in Vulnerability and Community with Lydia GarnerSend us a textLydia Garner returns to share her insights on coping with grief and trauma, focusing on her experiences as a Millennial dealing with the loss of her son. Through her journey, she emphasizes the importance of vulnerability, gratitude, and open conversations about mental health across generations.• Lydia shares the impact of 9/11 on her as a teenager • Understanding how her upbringing shaped her resilience • The cultural shift surrounding mental health in the Millennial generation • Experiences of postpartum depression and the need for candid dialogue • Acknowledging grief while finding hope and gratitude...
2025-01-151h 01