Becoming a Cut Flower Grower

Hello, it's Friday 26 June 2026.

Well it's pretty much the end of the current heatwave and I'm flagging a bit, unlike the plants which are doing just fine. UK temperature records have been broken (again) and there's no sign of rain for the next ten days, which is not good. The hens are doing absolutely fine and have been enjoying lots of leafy greens and watermelon. 

In light of the heat, tonight I'm talking about how I look after my plants on the field during the extreme temperatures. I'd love to know if you have any u...

Hello, it's Tuesday 23 June 2026.

Lots to tell you about tonight whilst recording from my very hot field. Even a peacock interrupted me (it's not mine!). We're in the middle of a heatwave here in the UK at the moment which is a teeny bit stressful. So far the seedlings are coping, but the water levels in the IBCs are taking a hit.

Orders are starting to head off the field - more details about them and the upcoming weddings this weekend. 

I also want to share some business jargon with you tonight: gross p...

Hello, it's Friday 19 June 2026.

Thank goodness it's Friday! Phew! If you sent me a message about the annuals/perennials debate this week - thank you - and if you commented on Spotify, thank you too. Tonight I'm talking more about starting annuals in autumn: I'm psyching myself up to get back into sowing.

Please get in touch if you buy annual plug/starts: I'm really interested to know what you buy and why you choose plugs rather than seeds. How does it work out financially for you? Contact details below, do let me know.

Hello, it's Tuesday 16 June 2026.

Normal service has been resumed (no more moaning tonight!). Thanks for bearing with me as I yakked on and on about what a dreadful week I had in the last episode. 

Growing cut flowers is an absolutely wild ride: equal parts fun and sheer terror, and it's a very fine line. I find it really hard to look at the 'big picture' cut flower work I'm doing when my hands are in the soil and my head is full of 'to-do' lists. Tonight I'm sharing the three revelatory things I realised i...

Hello, it's Friday 12 June 2026.

It has been a week. And not a good one! I had a nasty injury on the field, a car drama, non-stop rain, no sales on the hub, my garden is a jungle and I didn't get anywhere near enough seedlings planted out. Oh, and did I mention the rain?

So, in light of that, this episode is a bit of a rant about how dreadfully things have gone this week, just in case you thought it was all fun and games. I have hit a rather large brick wall this...

Hello, it's Tuesday 9 June 2026.

I have lots of news from the field in today's episode including planting seedlings, staking and netting, and weeding (or rather, pulling endless creeping thistle). I've also removed a succession of one of the Saponaria seedlings because they weren't performing well and space is at a premium. It's the first time I've ever done this - and I thought it would be hard - but it wasn't and I'm glad I've done it. 

The quality of the soil under the chipped bark mulch is incredible and much better at surface level t...

Hello, it's Friday 5 June 2026.

Lots to tell you about tonight: news from the field including staking random cornflowers, more maintenance of the living pathways, and I'm starting to question whether it is more economical to buy plugs or sow seeds. There's also news from the greenhouse because some of the seedlings had to go back inside to protect them from the cool/windy/rainy weather I've had this week.

There's been chicken drama: I had a brainwave, which I'm calling "cock swap", and it did not work out well. I've had an article about how...

Hello, it's Tuesday 2 June 2026. 

Phew, May is over. Last month really tested me (and a significant number of fellow growers). Our flowers were subject to such weather extremes that they (and I) didn't know if they were coming or going. Whilst plants are generally resilient, the flowers aren't and many either weren't ready for events or finished before they could be used. I hope that you and your plants survived the heat?

In today's episode I'm excited to share part 2 of the conversation with my wedding & event florist, Jo Caldwell. We talk about what to d...

Hello, it's Friday 29 May 2026.

I'm really delighted to share with you a wonderful conversation with my wedding & event florist, Jo Caldwell, on today's episode. We had such a long chat that I've actually had to split it into two parts so here is part 1 and the second one will be available next Tuesday. 

We cover a lot of ground including how growers can adapt to colour trends, how and why stem length is linked to pricing, who you could sell to if you're just getting started, and how inviting florists to your field could strengthen y...

Hello, it's Tuesday 26 May 2026 and it's EVEN HOTTER!

It's a beautiful May evening and you join me tonight on the field to feed the chickens and tour the cut flower area. I haven't talked you through what's happening on the field in a while so I thought that tonight would be a good opportunity. If you're reading this in the UK, I hope you're surviving the high temperatures we're experiencing at the moment: it's pretty epic. 

On tonight's field tour you'll hear how everything is getting on, including all the new hardy annuals that have b...

Hello, it's Friday 22 May 2026 and it's HOT!

So much to tell you tonight including sharply rising temperatures (and the pressures that brings), my visit to my wedding & event florist today, and a new rose I'm desperate to acquire.

I'm also talking about what I'm calling the "tight rope zone" which is May: how do growers manage all the different tasks which have to be done all at the same time this month?  Just balancing the needs of all the different types of annual seedlings is a mission, never mind all the other demands on our t...

Hello, welcome to Tuesday 19 May 2026. 

Oh the wind and cold is bothering me this week! I've just stocked up on more chocolate because I'm really not feeling it this week: one of the hens got into the flower area and dug up some of my sweetpeas, plus growth is slow because of the cool conditions. 

In tonight's episode I'm talking about why I wish I had gone to Chelsea Flower Show this year after all and why I'm having a bad case of FOMO as I watch it on tv (Fear Of Missing Out), plus de...

Hello, welcome to Friday 15 May 2026. 

What a week: it started with frosts and continued with hail storms which were very strong and potentially damaging to the seedlings. So I spent 'Hail Day' i.e Wednesday, sat in front of the TV watching Rivals and eating a big bar of chocolate. Thank you if you sent me a message this week, it really cheered me up!

In this episode I'm talking about getting comfortable with the word "No": both hearing it and saying it to others. It's something I have to work on doing and I s...

Hello, it's Tuesday 12 May 2026. 

Tonight I'm talking about goal setting: why it can be super-helpful to how you run your business, why I do it, how I do it and some suggestions for things you could consider, including goals for your finances, production, lifestyle, skills and purpose.  If you're not goal-setting yet, it could help you to avoid mission drift, remain focused and turn your hopes into actions. I'd love to know if you set yourself any goals? Drop me a DM on Insta or click on the 'Text The Podcast Here!' link at the bottom of...

Hello and welcome to Friday 8 May 2026. 

Lots to tell you about tonight so I have all the news from the field (including an unwelcome caterpillar on a climbing rose, what's just about to flower, an allium disaster, peony news and dahlia sprouting numbers), plus all the news from the greenhouse (zinnias and cosmos seedlings update, still no Larkspur, and staggeringly slow didiscus and nicotiana).

Then I'm talking about the incredible support teams used by elite athletes and professionals, and how growing cut flowers alone is tough. It's not a moan, it's just a realistic analysis o...

Hello, welcome to Tuesday 5 May 2026. 

I'm still getting over my cold so my voice sounds a bit croaky. Thank goodness we had some rain over the weekend! Phew! It really helped the soil although it wasn't enough to top up IBC1 unfortunately.

I spent the weekend planting out the first few batches of my hardy annuals on the field: the agrostemma, ammi, scabious, stocks and saponaria are out and protected under some temporary netting to keep the pigeons off. This means there is now space outside the greenhouse to move the next lot of seedlings o...

Hello, welcome to Friday 1 May 2026. 

I've got a horrendous cold so tonight's episode is shorter than normal because I feel dreadful and I haven't done anything constructive on the field this week. I've just about managed to keep on top of the plants which have needed watering, plus keeping an eye on the seedlings in the greenhouse, but that's it. 

Thank you if you sent me a comment or a message about growing Larkspur, which is clearly testing everyone's patience this year. I've received a number of suggestions for how to germinate them and I'm sh...

Hello, welcome to Tuesday 28 April 2026. 

Lots of news from the weekend on the plot: all the details in this episode of how I'm getting on prepping bed 4. I've also been doing more seed sowing including another batch of half hardy annuals and tenders, including my new ProCut sunflowers.

This afternoon I had a wonderful site visit from the owner of my local flower hub, Fenella, from the FlowerHub, Cookham https://flower-hub.co.uk/: we toured the plot and talked about so much. I even managed to do some drinks and snacks!

I've also j...

Hello, welcome to Friday 24 April 2026. 

Lots to tell you tonight including all the news from the field and the greenhouse. Exciting news: some dahlia shoots have appeared, which is amazing and I'm so glad to see them. I'm reviewing the seedlings in the greenhouse and I'll share the ones that are doing well and the ones which are testing me (hello, Larkspur).

I've had some great questions recently from listeners (thank you if you sent one in) and I'm answering them tonight including the five annuals I'd grow if I was only allowed five and t...

Hello, it's Tuesday 21 April 2026. 

I'm recording this episode from the plot but hopefully the audio is ok. I've been very busy and tonight I'll be sharing how I've just planted my sweet peas out and the steps I've taken to ensure that they're protected. I've also been sowing (more) seeds - so many that I've had to go and buy more shelving for the greenhouse.

I also take you on a sunset tour of the plot and chat about everything that's going on from roses to peonies and everything in between, including updates on the s...

Hello and welcome to Friday 17 April 2026. 

Lots to tell you about tonight: I experienced a strimming mishap with my Cephalaria (giant scabious), the other scabious have collapsed after they were moved last weekend, and I've busy trying to keep the greenhouse at a constant temperature, which is no mean feat.

This week I visited a fellow grower's plot together with some other members of my local growers group. It was brilliant to see what someone else is doing, share stories with my fellow growers, pick up some growing tips, and commiserate about the various issues t...

Hello, it's Tuesday 14 April 2026. 

I've had a busy weekend trying to divide my time between the field and the greenhouse, so there's lots to tell you tonight including news about mulching, weeding, transplanting, and staking. I've also just started sowing my half hardy annuals too, plus all my veg seeds, and I'll tell you why I'm using more vermiculite this year.

In other news I've given the website a revamp thanks to chatGPT. I use it regularly with all aspects of my life and I find it particularly helpful with work stuff, although it has j...

Hello, welcome to Friday 10 April 2026. 

We had a one-day heatwave this week and it was roasting! 24 degrees centigrade! Wow! And today it's back to 13 degrees - quite a change. It's musical chairs in the greenhouse with the seedlings: one minute they're in, then they're out, and keeping everyone moist is proving challenging. In tonight's episode I'll share with you the ones doing well, the slow ones, those giving me nightmares and the top performers.

I've been casting a critical eye over the shrubs in my garden and wondering which ones I should dig up and t...

Hello, welcome to Tuesday 7 April 2026. 

I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. I spent the weekend on the field and was mostly doing battle with nettles, clearing beds and making space for all the annual seedlings rapidly filling up my greenhouse. I can't wait to get them out onto the plot and growing away. The rats continue to test my patience: they've had a go at my final remaining batch of crated tulips which I finally planted in the ground. It's very unfair and I hope they all have indigestion.

My local hub has o...

Hello, welcome to Friday 3 April 2026. Happy Good Friday!

Storm 'Dave' has landed and it's very windy here. My honeysuckle arch blew down, the cockerels are getting blown across the field and anything I put down gets whisked away.

I've spent most of today in the greenhouse sowing more hardy annuals and it went really well. I'm going to need a lot more shelves in there at this rate. I've also been sowing seed that I collected from some of my unsold flowers in 2025 and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

...

Hello, welcome to Tuesday 31 March 2026. 

Fuel prices are shooting up really quickly and it's already impacting many of us, in one way or another. I've often mentioned the statistic that 80 to 90 percent of cut flowers sold in the UK are imported but here’s the important question: where exactly are they imported from? And how is the current crisis going to affect the market and what does it mean for British cut flower growers?

Tonight I'm looking at what’s really going on behind the scenes of the cut flowers imports into the UK and where...

Hello, it's Friday 27 March 2026. 

** Apologies for the terrible audio quality in this episode. I don't quite know what happened but I think there's something wrong with the microphone (and the spare one because I changed mic midway through) **

The battle with the rats for ownership of my tulips continues and I have finally given in and put the tulip crates in the back of my car. Victory to me. I will put them in the ground over the weekend and hopefully that will fix the problem although it will add substantially to their c...

Hello, it's Tuesday 24 March 2026. 

Lots of news - some of climbing roses have finally gone in the ground, the phlox has been split and replanted and the crated tulips have been relocated on top of the duck house to stop the rats eating the remains of them. As I no longer have squirrels on the field, this may be a safe place and I might actually have some tulips available for sale.

I had a wonderful visit from a podcast listener yesterday, the wonderful Carolyn from Home Close Flowers, who shared her experience of growing c...

Hello, it's Friday 20 March 2026. 

It's been an epic couple of days: yesterday I got a flat tyre on an isolated road in the middle of nowhere and then I found bindweed on the field. On the plus side, my seedlings are doing really well, which is great. 

Today I had a meeting with my main wedding and event florist - all the details of that in the episode - and she's agreed to be a guest on the podcast so please send me your question(s) for her and we'll tackle th...

Hello, it's Tuesday 17 March 2026. 

Lots to tell you tonight. Everything is growing away nicely and I've been busy weeding and prepping the beds. I share everything else that's going on including the jobs on the field I have coming up. The greenhouse is also rapidly filling up with seeds and tonight I'll talk you through how I've been sowing differently this week.

The tulip disaster continues and needless to say, I won't be growing them in crates ever again. Even the rats are turning their noses up at the remains of my tulips bulbs. They h...

Hello, it's Friday 13 March 2026. Welcome to the episode.

Tonight' I'm focusing on my cut flower website.  You'll hear about which company I used to make it, who hosts it, how much the hosting costs per month, where I buy my domain names, which domains I buy, why it's so much easier to make a website these days (no coding required), how I get started when I don't know where to start, using photography to make an impact, making it personal, why it's crucial to optimise a website for mobile phone users, why you mustn't ignore S...

Hello, it's Tuesday 10 March 2026.

Tonight I'm talking about how I'm sowing my sweet pea seeds and share some techniques that save me time and money. Every penny (and second) counts when starting seeds because it directly impacts the cost of producing each flower stem. And this of course matters when I'm aiming for profit.

I discuss the soil blocker that I'm using (link below for the one I have, not an ad) and I'm wondering if you've tried the new 'Snail' technique that everyone on instagram seems to be doing? Does...

Hello, it's Friday 6 March 2026.

I started sowing my annuals today and it felt so good. I have been putting it off (no idea why) and I really did just need to get started and I instantly felt better. In tonight's episode I talk about how I did it including how I got on with soil blocking: this is a new method for me so it will be interesting to see how the seeds get on. Let's hope nothing eats them.

There's a lot growing on the plot at the moment, particularly the weeds...

Hello and welcome to Tuesday 3 March 2026.

It's March! At last! Spring is finally here.

Tonight's episode is a real reflection on how I'm feeling about beginning year 2 of my cut flower enterprise and it's really not what I thought it would be like. So I'm talking about my current mood and all the thoughts I'm having about the plot, including not having enough greenhouse space, not enough bed space, why I haven't even started my seeds yet and all the support I really could do with at the moment. 

It's quite d...

Hello and welcome to Friday 27 February 2026.

You join me on the plot today for some thoughts about what's going on this week. I'm not quite myself this week and I think it's my hormones again so I talk about this a little bit. If you're feeling a little bit "off" then this may (or may not) resonate with you, and if it does, you're not alone. 

Today's Plant Profile Series continues with Hazel: a wonderful shrub for long straight stems of very useful and desirable foliage. It's a super-easy plant to c...

Hello, it's Tuesday 24 February 2026.

I have lots of news from the plot to tell you in the first part of tonight’s episode including planting my new perennial plugs, removing nettles from the old nigella bed, and tidying Kylie’s room plus more. I also started to make a dead hedge with apple prunings, which I’m very proud of. 

In the second part of the episode I’m sharing all the prep work involved in getting my greenhouse ready for seed sowing including cleaning the glass, replenishing the soil base, sorting the shelving, getting the trays...

Hello, it's Friday 20 February 2026.

In tonight's episode you join me on the plot where it's windy and rainy (at one point we even had sleet) and the hens make a guest appearance when one of them scared themselves and then frightened all of the others. I'm talking about what's happening on the plot right now including all the new growth I'm seeing, the plants which are still fast asleep, or in the wrong place, or have just been put in the right place but not actually planted (sorry, phlox).

In the second part...

Hello, it's Wednesday 18 February 2026.

Happy Shrove Tuesday for yesterday!

Today I'm talking about a Floret video I saw on instagram about using a rich potting mixture for sowing seedlings rather than just a plain seed compost: it's really interesting and Erin shares the recipe if you want to take a look. I've always used a nutrient-poor compost for germinating seeds and had excellent results but I'm fascinated by what Erin is suggesting so I'm going to try it, see what happens and report back to you.

Valentine's Day in Spain was a very...

Hello, it's Friday 13 February 2026. Are you superstitious about Friday 13th?! I hope it was a good day for you.

In this episode I continue talking about pricing. I talk about how I did it in 2025 as a year 1 grower including the market research I did and the places I hunted for prices, how I worked out my costs of production (and what I didn't record) plus I share with you what this actually meant when I grew my Cosmos last year. I contrast my Cosmos data with that of my Hazel, which I didn't have to touch...

Hello, it's Tuesday 10 February 2026.

Today's episode is a big one and it's all about pricing. It's such a hot topic: everyone wants answers and so I thought I'd share my experiences of it. I'm covering the nitty-gritty details including why pricing properly matters, what information you need to calculate the cost of producing stems (and how you do this), how I do the sums, all the elements growers have to consider, margins for wholesale and retail customers, the importance of market research, why imports are cheaper and why customers in the...