First Epic Disaster of the Year, Splitting Dahlias, Cornflowers & Sweetpeas Get Planted Out

It's Tuesday 15 April 2025 and this week has started really badly: I left a tap running last night and managed to drain my two full water bowsers. Overnight I've lost over a thousand litres of water. The timing is awful and I'm very disappointed in myself.

I also managed to forget to close the greenhouse door last night, which is not like me. Luckily we didn't have a frost so everyone was fine but it could have been a lot worse. So this episode is a bit low-key as you'll probably be able to tell from my voice that I'm really sad about the water loss. 

I have managed to successfully split many of my dahlia tubers from my dahlia mentor, Richard Bailey, and there's more to do today. I've planted out my cornflowers (there's a reel on insta @henhillcutflowers) and also my sweetpeas, which had lovely roots sticking out of the bottom of their toilet rolls. I've also sown more zinnias and cornflowers.

Other dramas this week include the difficulty of finding a 4m-long pole saw in the South of England (it's impossible) and an issue with my little dog. The episode ends on a more positive note with my plans for potting up the final few dahlia tubers and the seeds I will be succession sowing this afternoon using my new (and very clever) sowing chart. 

In this episode, join me for the first of the disasters on the plot.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ How I managed to lose 1,400 litres of rainwater overnight 

✅ The dahlia tubers I've been splitting 

✅ What to do when you don't have sulfur powder to cover cuts on tubers 

✅ How grateful I am to hear from you and why your messages are so lovely  

✅ Where you can see a video of my cornflower seedlings (@henhillcutflowers) 

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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.