What's Actually Happening In Drought Soil, Rose Lily Drama Continues & Am I Pruning My Dahlias All Wrong?
Becoming A Cut Flower GrowerShow Notes
Welcome to today's episode on Tuesday 11 August 2026. Lots going on as usual: I've been topping up the IBCs again, trying to keep my shrubs and perennials alive and mulching as much bare soil as possible to stop it overheating. Tonight I'm talking about what happens below the surface during a drought: what are the earthworms doing? Are the microbes dead or dormant? What's happened to the mycorrhizal network? How does all of this affect the plants? And what can be done about it? In other...
More from Becoming A Cut Flower Grower
Welcome to Friday 23 October 2026. I've had a very mixed week: car battery failure, an actual car accident, lost earnings due to the torrential rain, a one-day cold and a missed visit to a fellow grower due to the flat battery. Phew. On the plus side, it's been a truly great week for my new autumn-sown seedlings and tonight I'll be talking about the ones doing well in the greenhouse and on the field. I'll also be discussing the impact of the annual worming treatment of my hens for...
Welcome to Tuesday 20 October 2026. It has rained pretty much non-stop all day today so I thought I'd get on with lots of things on my to-do list... and then spent all day faffing around and not finishing anything. On the plus side, I have been sowing more seeds in the greenhouse (including perennials) and I'll update you on exactly what in this episode. Then I'm talking you through my cost of production figures for my Agrostemma crop this year. It's amazing how much labour costs ...
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 m...
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 abou...
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 ...