Becoming a Cut Flower Grower

• A Unicorn Visits, More Shrub Planting, Tulips Ordered (Finally!) & I've Just Enrolled On A Proper Flower Faming Course

  Hello 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 have available next year; and I've finally placed my tulip and allium order for 2026. Phew! Big news: I've just signed up for a proper business flower farming course with the amazing Jenny Marks of Trademark Farmer in the USA. I've been dithering about doing a course for the whole year and was resigned to not being able to afford it, but finally decided that it's something I need to take the plunge and actually commit to. I have a feeling that I've made the right decision because I've already received masses of incredibly valuable information from Jenny and the course hasn't even officially started yet. I'll keep you posted! Here are some links to the book and the course:BOOK: The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Farm-Minimize-Increase-Efficiency/dp/1603585923COURSE: Six Figure Flower Farming by Jenny Marks of Trademark Farmerhttps://www.trademarkfarmer.com/enrollI do hope that you will come back and join me for the next episode on Friday when I'll have more news. Connect with meIf 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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• Mistakes! I've Made A Few! Here Are My Top 10 Mistakes When Transitioning from Gardening to Growing Cut Flowers

  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.Connect with meIf 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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• Establishing A Proper Foliage Bed, Digging Up Dahlias & Intercropping To Maximise Space

  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 meIf 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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• Roselilies, Learning From Expert Growers & Growing Enough But Not Too Much: It's A (Very) Fine Line

  Hello 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 scent and sheer exuberance so I'm going to get some lilies for 2026 and see how I get on. I've also been thinking more about bouquet recipes and what I need to be growing for my market bouquets next year, and how to grow enough flowers to do this but not grow so many different varieties that it gets out of hand. This is a tricky balance, especially when new seed catalogues arrive and they're full of stunning flowers...Thank you if you sent me a DM on insta this week: I love hearing from you, I really do, and it's always me that replies. Please do come back and join me for the next episode when I'll have more news. I really hope that you will join me.LINKS to the podcasts I talk about today:Blooming Profits: Conversations with Flower Farmers https://open.spotify.com/show/5CjQaTyga21Fj8ofR2r1U1Slow Flowers with Debra Prinzinghttps://www.slowflowerspodcast.com/Connect with meIf 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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• Shop Til You Drop: More New Shrubs - What/Why/Prices & How Sales Channels Influence Decisions

  Hello, 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 the new perennials that I've ordered.I've been shopping today: all the news of that in this episode including what I've purchased and why, the benefits of these plants and the prices I paid. Having very recently made the decision to sell direct to customers in 2026, I have a renewed focus on what I will need next year and this is really helping with crop planning.I hope that you've had a great weekend and that your own planning for 2026 is underway. Please do 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 meIf 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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