
Dahlia Tips & Techniques from a Pro Exhibitor for Waking, Dividing, Taking Cuttings & Sowing Dahlia Seeds
04/04/25 • 23 min
It's Friday 4 April 2025 and if you're a dahlia-fan then this is the episode for you. Join me as I share everything I learnt this beautifully sunny morning from my dahlia mentor, Richard Bailey, including tips and tricks for success with these beautiful plants.
Richard is a prize-winning dahlia exhibitor and a Vice President of the National Dahlia Society in the UK. He's been exhibiting for years with much success, having learnt from some of the most eminent UK dahlia exhibitors himself. Richard is very generous with his time and he loves nothing more than sharing his dahlia knowledge with enthusiasts. I'm very grateful for his expertise and delighted to share it with you in this episode.
What Richard knows is just as applicable to growing cut flowers as exhibiting: to produce the most beautiful and high value blooms you need to know the techniques that the pros use.
In this episode, join me to hear valuable hints and tips for growing dahlias.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ How to wake up your dahlia tubers after their winter sleep
✅ To sieve or not to sieve compost?
✅ Why dahlias need bottom heat and darkness to wake up (not light)
✅ How to take dahlia cuttings
✅ Checking for gall on dahlia crowns: what to look for and how to deal with it
✅ Sow dahlia seeds and see what new colours appear!
🌻 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.
It's Friday 4 April 2025 and if you're a dahlia-fan then this is the episode for you. Join me as I share everything I learnt this beautifully sunny morning from my dahlia mentor, Richard Bailey, including tips and tricks for success with these beautiful plants.
Richard is a prize-winning dahlia exhibitor and a Vice President of the National Dahlia Society in the UK. He's been exhibiting for years with much success, having learnt from some of the most eminent UK dahlia exhibitors himself. Richard is very generous with his time and he loves nothing more than sharing his dahlia knowledge with enthusiasts. I'm very grateful for his expertise and delighted to share it with you in this episode.
What Richard knows is just as applicable to growing cut flowers as exhibiting: to produce the most beautiful and high value blooms you need to know the techniques that the pros use.
In this episode, join me to hear valuable hints and tips for growing dahlias.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ How to wake up your dahlia tubers after their winter sleep
✅ To sieve or not to sieve compost?
✅ Why dahlias need bottom heat and darkness to wake up (not light)
✅ How to take dahlia cuttings
✅ Checking for gall on dahlia crowns: what to look for and how to deal with it
✅ Sow dahlia seeds and see what new colours appear!
🌻 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.
Previous Episode

Basking in Sunshine, Bed-making, Turning Compost & Making a Planting Plan for my Cut Flowers
There's a lot going on at the moment! Join me on the plot in the fabulous sunshine today, Tuesday 1 April (how is it April already???) as I update you on what I've been upto, including seed sowing, monitoring production costs, ordering more seeds, selecting new dahlias, making new beds, rearranging fence panels, moving the contents of the compost heap into an empty bay plus a whole lot more.
This weather is proving wonderful for germination: my seeds are coming up really quickly so I have a bit of a merry-go-round system going with seeds germinating inside and then the hardy ones going out into the greenhouse. I hope that you're having success with your seeds this year!
It was windy on the plot this afternoon so the audio is a little bit up and down. I hope this doesn't detract - I much prefer talking from the plot rather than indoors.
In this episode, join me for a catchup in the glorious sunshine.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ Why it's important to position dahlias near a source of water
✅ How working out what's going where will help me calculate production costs
✅ Seeds I've been sowing today
✅ I've finally ordered my dahlias from Halls of Heddon!
✅ Why I'm growing Helichrysum this year and its dual uses
✅ New seeds I've ordered for 2025 (I couldn't help myself!)
🌻 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.
Next Episode

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome & Fear of Failure, Plus Doors to Manual, Storing Water & More New Seeds
It's another glorious week of sunshine and dry weather and the shed doors are finally on!
Today it's Tuesday 8 April 2025 and I'm pleased to update you on what's been going on since my last episode. I've been busy planting out foxgloves, peonies and raspberries, plus I made a new access path for the plot (and hung a new gate that I made myself, which I'm very proud of!).
I talk about storing water, even if you're on the mains. You can't really store enough water and I'm a big fan of water butts, IBCs, guttering on all buildings/sheds, reusing grey water, and then covering any exposed water sources so that birds can't fall in and drown.
I had to buy more Orlaya seeds and while I was ordering I ended up buying some Helichrysum (strawflowers), Limonium (statice), Matthiola (stocks) and Cosmos. I've sown these already and I can't wait to see the flowers. I'm monitoring my dahlia tubers very closely for dahlia gall and if you have tubers it's important that you check yours carefully and take action, if necessary.
In the second part of the episode I share with you my honest thoughts about managing my fears and having imposter syndrome. Even though it sounds like things are going great for me, I'd like you to know that behind the scenes I'm quite stressed and pretty overwhelmed with many fears which I worry about all the time, including fear of failure, desperate lack of funds, imposter syndrome, concerns that I can't deliver what's needed when it's required, weddings being cancelled (totally out of my hands but a huge worry if my flowers aren't required) plus a whole load more. It's exhausting trying to stay positive and doing so much work without any income coming in. If you're in a similar situation, you might relate to this.
In this episode, join me for a frank conversation about managing fear.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ How and why you need to store as much water as possible
✅ The new seeds I've ordered this week (I know.... more seeds)
✅ Why dahlia gall is a serious problem that can have costly implications
✅ How fear and imposter syndrome is so debilitating
✅ How I try to overcome my fear of failure
✅ Why it's so important to back yourself and believe in yourself
🌻 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.
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