Becoming A Cut Flower Grower

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's not a euphemism).
Tonight I'm talking about the Top 5 Books that I have found invaluable for learning more about my soil, being more efficient when moving around the field, mulching, interplanting, improving soil fertility, reducing waste, ring-fencing profit, saving for tax and capital expenditure, everything about hardy and tender annuals, plus pricing, record-keeping, marketing and crop planning. All the details of the books are below. Do let me know if you read any of them and how you get on with them. 
I hope you enjoy the episode - please come back and join me for the next one - you're always very welcome.
BOOKS:
1.  The Living Soil Handbook by Jesse Frost. Also check out his daily podcast, Growers Daily, because it's great.
2.  The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman. Very clever and insightful book. 
3.  Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. 
4.  The Cut Flower Handbook by Lisa Mason Ziegler. She also has a podcast called Field & Garden Podcast. Lisa is the queen of growing hardy annuals.
5.  Flower Farming For Profit by Lennie Larkin. Brilliant book, brilliant woman.
Text The Podcast Here
Support the show
Connect with me
Join me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot. 
Find out more on my website at www.henhillcutflowers.co.uk 
Drop me an email lydia@henhillcutflowers.co.uk.
New episodes are available every Tuesday and Friday. 
Please take a minute to leave a rating or review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 
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.

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 you need a gentle reminder not to blow your budget in five minutes on pretty seeds, in this episode I'm talking about the perils of going mad with seed catalogues: the risks of ordering too many different things, why I need to focus very carefully on what my target customers will actually want, why I want larger volumes of specific varieties next year, and what the catalogues don't tell you (and what you really need to know). On a positive note I'll also explain why there's always room to experiment with new varieties.
So, sorry to be a killjoy and do enjoy the catalogues by all means, but stay focused, stick to your plan and keep your skill level and target customer firmly in mind when you're buying.
I hope you enjoy the episode - please come back and join me for the next one - you're always very welcome.
Text The Podcast Here
Support the show
Connect with me
Join me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot. 
Find out more on my website at www.henhillcutflowers.co.uk 
Drop me an email lydia@henhillcutflowers.co.uk.
New episodes are available every Tuesday and Friday. 
Please take a minute to leave a rating or review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 
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.

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 her work, what she's doing, marketing, the flowers and foliage she works with most often and how we can work together next year.
The main topic tonight is my plans for more roses: the dahlias have to come out because they're not paying their way, and they will be replaced with gorgeous garden roses. I'll talk you through how I made the decision, what it involves, how I'll be dealing with the dahlias and the timeline for this project. I'm also listing the roses that I'm planning to buy and how I'll be growing them, plus the risks with the whole plan.
Tonight's plant profile is the lovely perennial Persicaria. I have been cutting alot from the ones in my garden and I'd like to have some on the field for autumn colour. I think they're pretty, robust, have great stem length and I'm hoping that they will be popular. 
I hope you enjoy the episode - please come back and join me for the next one - you're always very welcome.
Text The Podcast Here
Support the show
Connect with me
Join me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot. 
Find out more on my website at www.henhillcutflowers.co.uk 
Drop me an email lydia@henhillcutflowers.co.uk.
New episodes are available every Tuesday and Friday. 
Please take a minute to leave a rating or review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 
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.

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 this time - which is not my favourite one but I'll tell you why I've done it.
I had the pleasure of being interviewed on someone else's podcast for the first time a few weeks ago and the episode is now live. If you're interested in hearing me talk about the changes I've made to how I run the cut flower business this year, I've put some links below.
Here are the links to listen to me being a guest on Jenny Marks's Six Figure Flower Farming podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/six-figure-flower-farming/id1731202008
https://open.spotify.com/show/1FUIDDrT66BMeby8Tea9dB
I hope you enjoy the episode - please come back and join me for the next one - you're always very welcome.
Text The Podcast Here
Support the show
Connect with me
Join me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot. 
Find out more on my website at www.henhillcutflowers.co.uk 
Drop me an email lydia@henhillcutflowers.co.uk.
New episodes are available every Tuesday and Friday. 
Please take a minute to leave a rating or review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 
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.

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 my camera roll this week for photos and I shocked myself to discover just how much I'd achieved this summer. For the last couple of months I've had a narrative running through my head that it's been a bad year (drought/heatwaves/short stems, etc) when in fact, it hasn't been that bad. So I'm sharing some of the learnings I've made with you tonight. It's perhaps a gentle reminder to celebrate the wins. 
I hope you enjoy the episode - please come back and join me for the next one - you're always very welcome.
Text The Podcast Here
Support the show
Connect with me
Join me on instagram @henhillcutflowers for a behind-the-scenes look at life on my cut flower plot. 
Find out more on my website at www.henhillcutflowers.co.uk 
Drop me an email lydia@henhillcutflowers.co.uk.
New episodes are available every Tuesday and Friday. 
Please take a minute to leave a rating or review because it really does help more cut flower-lovers just like you to find the podcast. 
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.