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.

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.

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.

Hello 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 rained I've been studying like mad and really thinking about potential local clients and my USP. There's plenty more work to be done but it's a good start.

This weekend I'll be starting off some hardy annuals and tidying up an area on the plot to create a proper dedicated workspace for my flowers and equipment. At the moment everything is crammed into the feed room for the chickens and it's not ideal so I have plans for a new studio space.

I hope you enjoy this episode and 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.

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 went back to the Flower Festival on Sunday to see how my flowers survived the weekend and I talk about this.

The second part of the episode is my review of the National Dahlia Society Show that I attended today at RHS Wisley. It's a great show and my mentor, Richard, was exhibiting so it was lovely to catch up with him and see how he got on. It was truly fascinating to hear how the show works from Richard's perspective and see how other growers have coped with their dahlias in the massive amount of rain we've had in the last week. There is so much to share with you!

I hope you enjoy the episode and come back and join me for the next one. It's always great to hear from you: feel free to contact me on instagram @henhillcutflowers.

Details of The National Dahlia Society Show at RHS Wisley:

https://www.dahlia-nds.co.uk/events/2025-nds-national-show-rhs-wisley/

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/rhs-garden-wisley-flower-show

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.

Hello 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 Farming for Profit', which is an amazing source of information. I've been reading about all the things I've been doing wrong (there are a lot!) and having a laugh at how silly I have been sometimes. There is so much improvement to be done and I hope that you'll stick with me on my journey.

Please enjoy the episode and come back and join me for the next one. It's always great to hear from you: feel free to contact me on instagram @henhillcutflowers.

Book:

Flower Farming for Profit by Lennie Larkin

https://www.amazon.com/Flower-Farming-Profit-Complete-Successful/dp/1645021769/ref=zg_bs_g_5262_sccl_1/143-6181273-7259911?psc=1

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.

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 I should be planting annuals per square metre and the results are daunting... Plenty to talk about with this!

I love hearing from you. Feel free to send me a message on insta @henhillcutflowers with questions, comments or suggestions and it's always me that replies. I hope you enjoy the episode and you come back and join me for the next one.

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.

Hello 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 why some growers sow their annuals in the autumn (rather than spring) but now I do. I've been reading Lisa Mason Ziegler's book, The Cut Flower Handbook, all week and I've learnt so much. It's an incredible book and I'd really encourage you to read it. I feel very inspired to start sowing my cool-season annuals now and get them planted on the plot in the next couple of months.

I do hope you find this episode interesting and I very much hope that you'll come back and join me for the next episode.

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.