Becoming a Cut Flower Grower – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Hello. 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 how to grow and look after plants, experience of sowing seeds and propagating, pruning, composting and mulching, when plants flower, the list goes on and on. 

But there are some gardening habits that are ingrained in me that have caused me some problems when I have been growing cut flowers this year, including issues with spacing, staking, cutting, getting rid of non-productive plants, disbudding (properly), giving plants too many chances to improve, underestimating wear and tear on paths and high-traffic areas, not writing things down and not breaking the year down into a schedule of tasks to be done at the right time (and not getting distracted).

So I hope that you find this episode helpful! And I hope that you will come back and join me for the next episode when I'll have more news. I really hope that you will join me.

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If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a reviewbecause it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

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Hello. 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 veg. 

I spent this afternoon digging up dahlia tubers with my dahlia mentor, Richard Bailey, so all the details about this. He is kind enough to donate his unwanted dahlias to me which is amazing. I filled the back of my car with a dozen enormous dahlias (which now need splitting and replanting) and I have to go back and dig up another lot next week. It's a very busy time.

I do hope that you will come back and join me for the next episode when I'll have more news. I really hope that you will join me!

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

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Hello. 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 car keys somewhere amongst the cut flowers. All the laughs about this in today's episode plus how the situation (eventually) got resolved. You may wonder how I will ever get this business off the ground after this story! 

The second part of the episode is the concluding part of last week's episode where I talk you through the plants I've just bought for 2026 and beyond: it's a detailed breakdown of what I've bought and why. Perhaps you're already growing some of these and you know what I have to look forward to?!?

I hope you have a great weekend: please come back and join me for the next episode on Tuesday.

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

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Hello. 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 hooks on the walls for all the dried flowers I've been collecting. I'm really looking forward to having a dedicated space for working in and hosting florists next year.

I've been reflecting on my reconciliation report that I talked about in the last episode and I received an excellent question from a listener after the episode about what the findings might mean for what I grow next year, so I talk about this and what I decided (somewhat on the spur of the moment). I'll go into more details of what I've ordered in the next episode on Friday so I do hope that you'll join me for that.

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

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Hello 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 from the plot includes another vet visit for one of the hens with tummy troubles, my soil blocker arrived (I can't wait to try it out and report back to you), plus bed prepping and seed harvesting continues. Hopefully the weather stays dry this weekend so more prep can be done for 2026. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

Please do join me for the next episode on either Tuesday or Friday every week and you're always very welcome. 

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

Support the show

Hello 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 let you know how I get on.

The highlight of the week has been entering some of my dahlias into my local dahlia society show. I actually won some prizes! And some very useful raffle prizes! I also got to shadow the judge as he was marking the exhibits, which was a real education, and I have learnt so much about how the stems are assessed. The show was yet another reminder that the types of dahlias I grow are so important.

Please do join me for the next episode on either Tuesday or Friday every week and you're always very welcome. 

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

Support the show

Hello, 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 have learnt so much from growing them myself including important lessons on spacings, staking, watering, disbudding, stripping leaves, and vase life. I also share some of the things I did which I think helped my dahlias to flourish, plus how the clever location I chose for the tubers this year turned out to be not so clever after all. I'm not yet sure what my dahlia plan is for 2026 and I talk you through this too. 

Please do join me for the next episode: they come out on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and you're always very welcome to join me. 

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

Support the show

Hello 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 because I'm so new to growing and selling cut flowers that I'm thinking about this so much but I've always wanted to know how my flowers are going to be used so that I choose the right ones for the job. 

It's incredible that the hub is up-and-running and I'm very grateful to be included in it. It's a wonderful way for local growers to sell to a wider audience and I look forward to using it. If you're in a hub, I'd love to know how you're getting on with yours. Drop me a DM @henhillcutflowers with your thoughts. 

Please come back and join me for the next episode: they come out on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and you're always very welcome to join me. 

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

Support the show

Hello 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. I'm not an expert but I can talk about what I'm doing, and in the first part of this episode I talk about my dahlia choices, how I'm collecting and storing this year's seeds, plus how I balance learning about being a grower and simultaneously doing it (you can probably guess the answer to this one!).

In the second half of the episode I talk about my star performer of the year so far: my hydrangea paniculatas. These shrubs have been my most popular for cut flower stems and have sold at a good price. The plants have been super-easy to look after, productive and very popular so I'm planning on buying more for 2026. Compared to growing from seed, shrubs and perennials are invaluable but they're expensive to buy when getting a cut flower growing business established, so it's a bit of a catch-22 situation. 

I hope you enjoy this episode and that you'll come back and join me for the next one: episodes come out on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and you're always very welcome to join me. 

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

Support the show

Hello. 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), plus the obligatory weeding and tidying. I've also been sorting 'Kylie's room' in preparation for turning it into a flower studio/workspace. 

The second part of the episode is me talking you through my sales goals for 2026 which, quite frankly, are now baffling me. In order to make the sales goal I came up with, I have to sell a large volume of stems (at the right price). There's a lot to factor in, such as plant spacings and price per stem, and I need to keep crunching the numbers until it all makes sense. I hope that I'll have some sensible figures soon!

I do hope you enjoy this episode and that you'll come back and join me for the next one: episodes come out on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and you're always very welcome to join me. 

Connect with me

If you like what you hear, please follow/subscribe to this podcast so that you're the first to hear new episodes when they become available every Tuesday and Friday. And if you enjoy this episode, please take a minute to leave a review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers like you find the podcast. 

Follow me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot.

Join me on my journey through a year of growing and selling cut flowers in England. I'm giving you the low-down on what it's really like, how I'm getting started, what you do and don't need, what I do when and why, the successes and failures, and just about everything in between. All in real time. With guest appearances from my chickens every now and then. 

Text The Podcast Here!

Support the show