It's been a really busy few days: some of the new seeds that were sown last week have germinated, the new beds have been marked out with string, a whole new planting area has been created, I finally found my missing broad bean seeds (yipeeeeee!), more seeds have been sown, the sun has been shining and it's warming up nicely.

I've been thinking a lot over the weekend about a backup plan: what happens if my main cut flower buyer for 2025 can't take my flowers? What would I do? Where else would I sell them? I need a plan for a worst-case-scenario. I really hope it won't happen but it's always good to be prepared... do listen to this episode to find out more.

In this episode, let's talk about the importance of having a backup plan.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Which seeds have germinated

✅ The new seeds that I've sown this week

✅ Perennials I still need to plant

✅ How to find a florist who you vibe with

✅ Why you need a backup plan for your cut flowers

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review – it really does help more cut flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

I went to the garden centre just to buy a ball of string to finish marking out the new cut flower beds and came home with some lovely new flowers seeds!

In this first part of this episode I'm back in the greenhouse on a warm and bright afternoon sowing more of my cut flower seeds as well as the new ones that I picked up in the garden centre. As I'm sowing (you can hear me rummaging in the background as I fill up trays with compost) I have a moan about podcast adverts, I talk about why I'm sowing much smaller batches of seeds successionally this year, and I discuss my new Scabious seeds and whether they could actually be focal flowers rather than fillers. I also talk about why I don't start sowing seeds until March. Someone stole the padlock chain from the gates of my plot on Monday and I talk briefly about this.

In the second part I'm inside in the warm and I give a brief recap on the second part of the week including standing my sweetpea loo rolls upright, getting caught in a hailstorm, having a hog roast at my plant wholesaler's spring open day, and breaking news: I made a very nice quiche and then ate it.

In this episode, I’m still in the greenhouse sowing more cut flower seeds.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ New seeds from the garden centre I'm sowing this week

✅ Why I'm sowing smaller batches of seeds more often this year

✅ Scabious: focal flower or filler?

✅ Why I don't start sowing seeds before March

✅ What happens with security on your plot when you don't own it?

✅ Genius hack for stopping loo rolls falling over and seeds falling out

✅ I made a fantastic quiche!

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

It's Tuesday 10 March 2025 and I'm in the greenhouse this afternoon, sowing more cut flower seeds. Come and join me as I'm sowing Achillea, Cephalaria, Centaurea, Crespedia, Zinnia and Orlaya. It's much cooler this week: the weekend was positively balmy and it was wonderful to have so much sunshine. It really felt like Spring had arrived. And then it cooled rapidly!

As I'm sowing I talk about what containers I'm sowing into this year (and why it's different to previous years), how I clean my labels, the beauty of cornflower seeds (little rockets!!), the work I got done on the plot over the weekend, the thinking behind sowing smaller trays of seeds and bringing them indoors to get them germinated - then potting them on later, and how I accidentally bought another fruit tree yesterday. It's my longest episode so far and I really hope that you enjoy it.

In this episode, I’m talking to you from inside my greenhouse as I continue to sow my cut flower seeds.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why (and how) I'm sowing differently this year

✅ The benefits of recycling empty food containers from your kitchen

✅ The importance of successional sowing

✅ A quick basic tip for identifying which seeds need covering and which don't

✅ The difference between vermiculite and perlite

✅ The amount of land I'll have under cultivation this year

✅ An update on my baby hens, Kiki D and Dani Minogue

✅ Why I can't stop buying fruit trees

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

I was SO looking forward to getting started on my seed sowing this week! And then I was thwarted by a really nasty cold so I ended up sleeping a lot, watching Netflix and endlessly re-reading the latest David Austin rose catalogue. So the first half of this episode is me with a rather croaky voice and a bunged-up nose talking about that.

Luckily the second half improves when I was well enough to get into the greenhouse and start sowing my sweetpeas! And the word I was struggling to remember when discussing why I wanted to grow my sweetpeas straight up the fence panels is: tendrils!! I could not think of that word when I was talking and then of course as soon as I finished recording, I remembered it.

In this episode, join me as I sow my first seeds of 2025: sweetpeas!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ What happened when I was ill and couldn't get out of bed?

✅ How to recycle toilet roll tubes to sow some types of seeds

✅ My top 10 favourite David Austin roses

✅ What I learnt from watching 'With Love, Meghan' on Netflix

✅ Why sweetpeas really need toilet roll tubes or root trainers

✅ Why I'm elevating my everyday dinner ingredients tonight

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

This week got off to an absolutely freezing (but beautiful) start. Unfortunately it was far too cold for me to be sowing seeds in the greenhouse so I have recorded a longer podcast instead.

In this episode I answer a question from a listener about exactly how I chose the seeds I'm growing for cut flowers and I explain my thought process. I clarify what I meant in episode 15 about 'filler flowers' and the different types of flowers you find in an arrangement. I also venture into my greenhouse (the old one) and see what has survived February and what has not made it.

Part of this podcast was recorded out in the cold on the plot and half inside in the warmth with a very runny nose. I hope you enjoy it, despite my frequent sniffing.

In this episode, I’m explaining exactly how I chose my seeds to grow this year.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why chickens have had such a positive impact on my plot

✅ Why I didn't end up sowing seeds on Monday

✅ Thrillers, Fillers, and Spillers: do you know the difference?

✅ What's inside my greenhouse right now

✅ My methodology for choosing the seeds I'm growing for cut flowers

✅ Why a teasel wreath seemed a good idea... but was it?

✅ About my new Facebook group and an apology to new members

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

It's the last day of February today which means two things: one, I'll be moving home tomorrow and two, it's time to start sowing seeds! Yipee! Once I've unpacked and got settled, I'll be getting busy in the greenhouse...

Before all that fun, today's episode is me talking you through the 15 new varieties of flowers I'm going to grow this year from seed. Purchased last year (I was ahead of the curve, for once!) and itching to get going, these seeds are going to be my main focus of attention this summer. Ranging from a diminutive 45cm to a stonking 1.8m tall, I hope to have a selection of beautifully coloured, attractive and - most importantly - "sellable" cut flowers.

In this episode, I’m sharing the new varieties of seed I'm sowing in 2025.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Names and details of 15 x new seeds I'm sowing this year

✅ How and why I've selected these seeds

✅ How I worked with a brilliant wedding florist to curate my seed list

✅ Heights and flower descriptions of these seeds

✅ How to know when to stop buying seed (spoiler: I still don't have the answer to this!)

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

I'm excited to tell you that I've spent today dismantling my newly acquired (third-hand) greenhouse and transporting it to my plot. It was hard work and very tiring but only three panes of glass got broken (not bad) and no injuries at all (even better!). This is my second greenhouse and in this episode I talk about the differences between this one and my original one, together with why greenhouses are really useful to growers. I talk about the layouts of my greenhouses, the types of base/floor I have and what I'm planning on doing in the new one. You'll hear about why growing in a controlled environment is so useful for getting a head start on the growing year, as well as protecting your seedlings from the weather and pests.

The sun came out (at last!) so I got onto the plot and pruned my Verbena bonariensis plants which I grew from seed in 2024. I recorded the first part of this episode whilst working outside on my plot and it's just me talking to you and the Verbena. I hope you enjoy and find it useful.

In this episode, I’m making the case for getting a greenhouse.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ The DO's and DON'Ts of positioning a greenhouse

✅ How a greenhouse extends your growing season

✅ Why aluminium framed greenhouses are game changers

✅ How my new greenhouse is going to help me in 2025

✅ Which base to use for your greenhouse (and why)

✅ Alternatives to a greenhouse

🌻 Subscribe & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.

It's time to put our cards on the table and answer this question: what's stopping you from becoming a cut flower grower?

It's been a rainy old week yet on the sunniest two days I wasn't around to get on the plot but as the ground is still so wet, it's not a huge problem. So I'm talking to you in this episode from the warmth and dryness of indoors, where I'm really analysing what sort of things hold us back from starting to grow and sell cut flowers.

By challenging as many reasons as I could think of, ranging from lack of time or money (or both); to lack of knowledge or experience (or both); to lack of confidence (I've been there...); to the fears that we all get (everyday) like fear of failure/rejection/ridicule/pity/financial ruin... (the list goes on); to backing yourself and being your number one supporter, I'm smashing through these one by one. Towards the end of the episode there's a timely reminder of why I wanted to get into growing cut flowers and how I hope this is going to be a really fun and exciting enterprise.

** When I was in the doldrums in 2024, I was lucky enough to have a few life coaching sessions from a very good friend of mine, Gina. This incredibly talented and wonderful lady is brilliant at what she does, and thanks to her I now have positive affirmations stuck all over my home (and in my head). And thanks to her (and some HRT patches) I'm feeling like a totally different woman. If you have the opportunity to work with a life coach, I highly recommend you take it. Please ask me if you'd like Gina's details. **

In this episode, I’m diving into what's holding you back.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why lack of money, experience or knowledge should NOT hold you back

✅ How to stop fear and lack of confidence halting your dreams

✅ The importance of being your own No. 1 supporter and advocate

✅ How nature will always throw curve balls and test you

✅ A reminder of why growing cut flowers is fantastic, exciting and magical

🌻 Follow & Stay Connected!

If you like what you hear, please follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review – it really does help more flower lovers find the show.

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. I'm going to give 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.