Becoming a Cut Flower Grower

Welcome to Friday 23 October 2026.  I've had a very mixed week: car battery failure, an actual car accident, lost earnings due to the torrential rain, a one-day cold and a missed visit to a fellow grower due to the flat battery. Phew. On the plus side, it's been a truly great week for my new autumn-sown seedlings and tonight I'll be talking about the ones doing well in the greenhous...

Welcome to Tuesday 20 October 2026.  It has rained pretty much non-stop all day today so I thought I'd get on with lots of things on my to-do list... and then spent all day faffing around and not finishing anything. On the plus side, I have been sowing more seeds in the greenhouse (including perennials) and I'll update you on exactly what in this episode.  Then I'm talking you throu...

Welcome to Friday 16 October 2026.  I've had a really busy week off-field so I haven't got anything productive done but I have acquired a large volume of cardboard boxes, which are going to be laid over my beds this winter to protect the soil. I've also bought some more of my best-selling shrubs (and where I'm going to plant them) and I had a great polish hot dog (and that&apos...

Welcome to Tuesday 13 October 2026.  Seed catalogues: they're here and they're fabulous! I get wildly excited at this time of year and I spent all weekend with a packet of post-it notes earmarking what annuals I'd like from the catalogues that have just arrived. Then I remembered that I'm actually only doing my Big Five next year, so I've had to hold myself back... In case...

Welcome to Friday 9 October 2026.  We've had it all this week: rain, cold and wind, which is a reminder that autumn is well and truly here. It's been so warm and sunny that I'd almost forgotten that the cooler days were coming. I spent an afternoon with a local florist, Aly from Garden Room Flowers, in her beautiful studio (I had serious envy...) and we spent hours chatting about he...

Welcome to Tuesday 6 October 2026.  So much to tell you about in this episode including the start of my autumn seed sowing (finally...), plus some chicken news, a crushed CD, and a mystery turd on the field... I'm talking about how I've been sowing my hardy annuals this autumn including the new compost I'm using, the trays I prefer to use, and the sowing technique I've used thi...

Welcome to Friday 2 October 2026. Where did September go...?!?!!?  Join me on the field for today's episode where I'm struggling with some kind of nasty cold/flu. Before I got sick, I spent an afternoon this week learning how to make a fresh autumn wreath with my wedding & event florist (photos on my instagram, if you're interested in taking a look). I've been diving into m...

Welcome to Tuesday 29 September 2026.   Did you spot the new podcast logo?! I thought it was time to update it and I hope you like it. I've got some news to share with you about the hens, the bed prep I've been doing over the weekend plus my seed saving situation. The main topic in this episode is contingency planning and I'm going to be discussing why I'm going to do it, what...

Welcome! It's Friday 25 September 2026.   Come and let the hens out with me this morning: I'm recording this episode on the field so there is quite a bit of cockerel crowing in the background. In today's episode I'm answering some great listener questions including whether or not you can buy-in stems if you're already a grower, and an alternative way of marketing (that has...

Welcome! It's Tuesday 22 September 2026.   Two topics today: letting self-seeders get on with it, and a look at the overall strategy for 2027. I discovered lots of self-seeded Ammi and Clarkia over the weekend when I was bed prepping and decided to leave them, even though they're not on The Big Five list of annuals for 2027 - all the reasons why in this episode. I'm also going into...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 18 September 2026.   Tonight's episode is all about foliage and it's essentially a massive souped-up plant profile series in one single episode. Curious about foliage? Are you asking yourself if you really need to grow foliage? Do you already have some but not sure if it's suitable? Are you wondering about getting some but not sure where to...

Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 15 September 2026.   Join me on a cheerful tour of the plot tonight as I talk you through everything that's going on right now, including the flowers blooming right now, the plants that I'm re-locating, the flowers I'm keeping for drying, the plants that just keep coming and the flowers that are very short (but just about usable).  There&ap...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 11 September 2026. Thanks for your Spotify comments: I always love hearing from you and your ideas are always interesting. And I'm grateful for your kind words. Tonight I'm talking about the orders I took when recently out of the country. I don't recommended doing this unless you particularly want a massive adrenaline spike. Thankfully the o...

Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 8 September 2026. Ok, so after the last episode on pricing, I received some questions so I thought I'd answer them on tonight's episode. Pricing is a hot topic - if you have more questions, feel free to send me a DM on instagram or click the "Text The Podcast Here!" link at the bottom of these notes. I thought I'd share some infor...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 4 September 2026. Tonight's episode is all about pricing: why it's so hard (especially when you're a new grower), benchmarking with other suppliers (pros and cons), the impact of market forces, how the Dutch auction system works (it's fascinating), how to just get started with pricing and finally, THE most important thing to consider wh...

Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 1 September 2026. Somehow, it's September! How did that happen?!? Hub sales - I've finally made some! Very exciting and I'll tell you all about this tonight, including what I've sold.  I've been doing some work on my dahlias over the weekend and I'll share the details of what I've been doing and why. Plus, I found a slug...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 28 August 2026. Much to tell you in tonight's episode including an update on the borehole, the rain situation, my footwear, and an unexpected pile of grey feathers on the field... Thank you if you sent me a message of support after my last episode - it's very much appreciated. The main topic tonight is those pesky annuals for 2027: what am I grow...

Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 25 August 2026. I've just had some really shocking news about the future of my field, which I'm going to share with you tonight. It's potentially very serious and I won't know anything else for a while. Where does this leave me in terms of planning for 2027? In other (good) news, I'll update you on the work I've been doing on...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 21 August 2026. Seed harvesting mini-disaster (already): all the details of this, plus a reminder to myself that as the rains are finally incoming, it's time to check gutters and downpipes for blockages and detritus, plus ensure that all taps are in the closed position, ready to capture as much water as possible.  I'm answering a listener questio...

Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 18 August 2026. Non-stop flower news from the field in tonight's episode including my sales figures since last week (and possibly why), all the seeds I've been harvesting over the weekend (and how I'm storing them), and the plants doing really well right now (and the reasons for this). Dahlias - I'm not doing any more disbudding for th...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 14 August 2026. It's all happening on the field tonight: government wildfire warning alerts, teatime for the hens, and tonight's episode. The heat has been insane this week - yesterday was brutal - so I hope you've made it through the week ok. Tonight I'm sharing news of what I've been doing this week plus my seed harvesting plans...

Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 11 August 2026. Lots going on as usual: I've been topping up the IBCs again, trying to keep my shrubs and perennials alive and mulching as much bare soil as possible to stop it overheating.  Tonight I'm talking about what happens below the surface during a drought: what are the earthworms doing? Are the microbes dead or dormant? What's happ...

Welcome to today's episode on Friday 7 August 2026. Tonight I'm answering some brilliant questions that I've been asked recently including:  what pests I've had this year (and how I've dealt with them) what data I'm collecting (how and why) which natural fertilisers I'm using (and the ones I want to try) why so many flower stems are short this year (and the scien...

Hello, it's Tuesday 4 August 2026. Still no rain - and none in sight. In light of this I went and bought three new big secondhand water storage tanks so I'm ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at me next year. Tonight there's news from the field including what I realised when I was stood on top of a transit van on Sunday.  Tonight I'm sharing with you my plans for next year...

Hello, it's Friday 31 July 2026. Welcome to tonight's episode. I'm trying a new format tonight so there's deliberately no intro or outro music. The heatwaves have finally come to an end but the drought continues and there's barely any rain forecast, which is somewhat concerning. I've been busy cutting stems this week for a wedding tomorrow: my wedding florist came to...