The Cut Flower Podcast

The Beauty of Dahlias: A Flower Farmer's Journey with Anna May

• Roz Chandler / Anna May • Season 1 • Episode 71

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Text Agony Aunt Roz with your Cutflower Questions.

In today's episode, I had an engaging conversation with Anna May, a passionate flower farmer specialising in dahlias. We delved into various topics, from the challenges of flower farming to the joys of seeing dahlias brighten up special occasions.

Summary:

Anna shared her journey as a flower farmer, highlighting both the highs and lows she's experienced along the way. One of the significant challenges she faced was storing dahlias without adequate infrastructure, leading to losses during frosty weather. However, she also expressed the immense satisfaction derived from seeing her flowers bring joy to customers, especially during weddings and special events.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Challenges of Flower Farming: Anna discussed the practical challenges she encountered, such as storing flowers and managing limited resources effectively.
  2. The Magic of Dahlias: Despite the challenges, Anna emphasised the beauty and appeal of dahlias, both for herself and her customers. Their vibrant colours and resilience make them a favourite among flower enthusiasts.
  3. Social Media and Marketing: We explored the importance of social media for promoting flower businesses, with Anna sharing insights into building an online presence and engaging with customers.

Want to learn more about dahlias then Anna May is your lady.

Anna May Resource Links: 


The Cutflower Podcast

[00:00:00] Roz Chandler: Thank you very much. I'm so delighted to welcome Anna May of Dorset Dailies. I'm so glad I found you to our podcast today. Obviously the wonderful Instagram led me to you.

[00:00:09] Roz Chandler: We're running a series this month to highlight different ways that flower farmers are running their businesses and what stages of business they are. So tell us about your business, tell us where it started, what you're doing, what you're doing at Dorset Dahlias and so on. What do you do? 

[00:00:24] Anna May: I bought my first dahlia about 10 or 11 years ago.

[00:00:29] Anna May: I was at the local horticultural society sale in the square. And I saw this and I just thought I'm very taken with that. So I bought this one dahlia. I didn't really know about dahlias at all. My granny had an enormous garden and she was a proper gardener, but I'd never had much interest.

[00:00:47] Anna May: And and then, so I bought that one and I thought that's the ticket. It was bright pink, and it was just fabulous. And it absolutely set me off. So the next year, I think I had 15 and the next year I then had 35 and then it was a hundred. And then it just kept going because it, as your tubers get too big, you divide them and you get more plants. That's fantastic. But also, they're addictive. And so you think, I've got this colour and I've got this colour. Oh, and I've got this colour in this shape. But do you know what? I haven't got a water lily in this colour. Or I haven't got, whatever it is, a pom like that.

[00:01:22] Roz Chandler: I don't know how many there are 44, 000 or something, I read somewhere, so you could end up with 44, 

[00:01:27] Anna May: 000 varieties. I don't tell my husband that, that's really how I started growing them and I started in our kitchen garden where we've got a few beds and then that's got full.

[00:01:40] Anna May: Unfortunately, we've got quite a few acres here, so then I Then I started with one patch in the field and I've just, two years ago, I moved to a much bigger purpose made big patch in the field. But it was only about five years ago that I realized I just had too many and that's when I started selling 

[00:02:02] Roz Chandler: them.

[00:02:03] Roz Chandler: Yeah, some way they've got to pay for itself, hasn't it? You've got a build set up by this time. Yeah, 

[00:02:08] Anna May: exactly. And also somewhere for them to go because there's a limit to how many I could fit in the house and give to friends and that sort of thing. And it was paining me how many were going on the compost, or just not having no purpose.

[00:02:25] Anna May: So yeah, so then they started going to various places. 

[00:02:29] Roz Chandler: Wow. And what did you do before you started up Dorset Dailies? What was your job? What did you do? 

[00:02:35] Anna May: What I still do now is I'm a food judge. And that's, so that's why I couldn't get back to you yesterday because I was in a room all day judging food.

[00:02:43] Anna May: Judging food. Judging food. I was stuck in a room. So I still do that. That works very well because that's in the spring. It's before most of the daily action, so that's what I do for Great Taste Awards. And but, years ago I worked in the city, I've never had any call to gardening.

[00:02:59] Anna May: I've never had any, and I don't have green fingers. Me neither. The only thing I can grow is a dahlia. I can't grow anything else. Everything else will fall by the wayside, but dahlias, somehow that seems to 

[00:03:11] Roz Chandler: work. And also you've got to grow something that fits in with your lifestyle, haven't you?

[00:03:15] Roz Chandler: So if you're growing Christmas trees, that's Christmas, don't you? Your whole December's wiped out. If you're growing dahlias, you know, That really, from the end of May until the beginning of October, that's when you're seasoned as you know that, don't you? So I'm quite envious of a product like that.

[00:03:33] Roz Chandler: Actually, I'm quite envious in some respects. Because A, it's the most productive plant you could possibly have. B, it's probably the most you can make money out of. It's a daily now because it's really in vogue. So I'm actually quite envious. 

[00:03:44] Anna May: Yes. And also because you have you're doing things for a much, much longer season than me.

[00:03:49] Anna May: You're very busy and you're juggling the vagaries of the weather for a much longer time. My stress over the weather is in quite a condensed couple of months. 

[00:03:58] Roz Chandler: So you grow where you are now and you made purpose beds. How did you make them? Did you have grassland and then you made purpose built 

[00:04:05] Anna May: daily beds?

[00:04:05] Anna May: Yeah. So we had, we ploughed it, rotovated it. We put a load of stuff down to, to break up the clay a bit. And now we've got rows and rows. Which makes it much easier to have netting to support the dahlias. It's easier to have paths that we mow. So now we've got, I think we've got seven or eight, seven rows there of about 25 meters each.

[00:04:29] Anna May: And then we've again we've kept the vegetable garden still. And that's got about nine beds in it. So there's a lot, there's a 

[00:04:36] Roz Chandler: lot of dahlias. And do you propagate from them or do you put them straight in the ground? How do you send that from now onwards? What are 

[00:04:43] Anna May: you propagating? I've got some, I've got some on heat at the moment, just some that I was very keen to get as many cuttings as possible.

[00:04:52] Anna May: So they're on heat already. And, but a lot I will do with dividing, and I'll start that within the next, within the next week or two. I'll start dividing up and potting up. But I do both ways just because it, that's what works. That's what, I know that the people showing dahlias will generally just do that from cuttings, but they're after a slightly different product.

[00:05:16] Anna May: To 

[00:05:16] Roz Chandler: me, but you will propagate from cuttings and you will also divide the tuber then? Yeah, you'll do 

[00:05:22] Anna May: both ways. Yeah, I'll do both ways. And I'll also, I always keep some from last year to just try some seeds. I'll grow some seeds see what comes up. Sometimes you get a great surprise.

[00:05:32] Anna May: Sometimes they're exactly what you were expecting them to be. 

[00:05:36] Roz Chandler: I'm tempted to do that. I'm all, I'm almost really wanted to daily named after me. So I was really interested in hybridization and I've never, ever tried it and I've never done it, but it would just be interesting to see what happens. What came up?

[00:05:47] Roz Chandler: Who knows 

[00:05:48] Anna May: what the bumblebee is? I think so, yeah. I've, I've got the little bags to put over but I haven't gone down that particular route yet because it's just it's just one more thing I can't deal with. But I do collect seeds and then I just think well, wherever the bee's been we'll see and you never know.

[00:06:03] Anna May: But they do tend to be singles, they tend to be open, it's just 

[00:06:08] Roz Chandler: that's how they But the bees go yeah, so you do your open ones. Oh, interesting. 

[00:06:13] Anna May: Yeah. 

[00:06:14] Roz Chandler: And you say you grow on clay. Oh, but dailies like clay. They don't. I suppose you put enough, enough manure and something in there, isn't 

[00:06:22] Anna May: it? Exactly.

[00:06:24] Anna May: And also, two years ago, what was that? 22? When we had that really long, hot spell. And I was seeing terrible pictures, of people's, nothing growing, people's plots looking really sad and we were lucky because that clay kept the dahlias going for a really long time and we were able to, avoid having to water any more than necessary.

[00:06:45] Anna May: So in fact the clay, yeah it's twofold. It's a right pain, when you're planting and particularly when you're taking them up because come the end of October, November when it's wet. And you've got all these dahlias to pull up, and you just think, I don't know why I do this.

[00:07:00] Anna May: I don't know why I do this, because it's back breaking and depressing. You know that you have to. 

[00:07:06] Roz Chandler: I always, one dahlia grower once said to me, dahlias don't like swimming, and I always remember it. So it's Dahlias don't like swimming. Dahlias don't like swimming. And, that year we all dug them up.

[00:07:17] Roz Chandler: It's not this year just gone, the year before when it was really wet. Come October and November we dug them all up. Most people lost their Dahlia tubers because they were too wet. They were like solid. 

[00:07:27] Anna May: Yeah. I've, I've lost them, I've lost them the first couple of years when I didn't really know what I was doing.

[00:07:32] Anna May: I left them in and I think I lost about, probably about 70%. I don't know. I thought, all right, okay, I can't do that because we're not that cold down 

[00:07:41] Roz Chandler: here. No, Dorset, yeah. Yeah, 

[00:07:43] Anna May: but we are very wet 

[00:07:45] Roz Chandler: where we are. Yeah, see, I've got the big advantage of, only that year did I lift some and then I vowed I would never ever lift again.

[00:07:54] Roz Chandler: And I have never lifted again. And the only reason I'd lift it if the tube is getting far too big, which they do, I know they do, but lifting just fills me with horror. And we're really lucky that we're on, in one respect, we're really lucky because we're on a quarry. So it's near a river. So actually what we've got going on around us at the moment is mineral extraction because it's actually gravel.

[00:08:14] Roz Chandler: underneath. And so our tailors love it because it's free draining and we do not lift. And we're in the middle of the country, in Milton Keynes, so it's warmish. It's not cold and it's not warm. So we don't lift. And, but we keep, but the problem with that, if you don't lift, you keep adding more and more.

[00:08:30] Roz Chandler: Because, they just think, oh, just order some more doughnuts this year, and, I order, oh goodness knows, I order mine in from Holland, and I do sell them as tubers. I probably ordered in, dare I say, 3, 000, which is madness. So I probably sold 2, 000 and my team is saying to me, can't you sell some more?

[00:08:49] Roz Chandler: Cause they're thinking, have we really got to put all these 

[00:08:51] Anna May: in? I know, but they're just so fantastic, aren't they? And the thing about the tubers is they do pay for themselves very quickly. And you just, and there's always, as I said before, there's always that extra color. There's that extra one.

[00:09:04] Anna May: You just, you never know. And there's always some that get lost. There's always some that don't come back and I've got a couple actually. at the moment a couple on heat that I really want to come back and I'm not sure they're going to, and they were tricky ones to source.

[00:09:20] Anna May: And so if I've lost those, I've lost those, but, 

[00:09:23] Roz Chandler: Have you got them as heat, on heat maps? Have you got them on heat maps undercover, like in a tunnel or greenhouse or something? Yeah, in a tunnel. Yeah, because I haven't got mine on heat maps. I've just got mine. Just doing their own little thing, but maybe I need to heat 

[00:09:34] Anna May: them just for a few that I just wanted to, particularly ones I've only got one of, I just wanted, there's no splitting to be done and if I wanted extras, then I needed to do that.

[00:09:43] Anna May: And some of them are romping away, I've taken cuttings already, but some I just, I don't know. And they've all been stored the same way over the winter. So there's no real rhyme or reason as to why, some survive and some don't. It's just. One 

[00:09:59] Roz Chandler: of those things. And dare I ask you what's your favourite child isn't it?

[00:10:04] Roz Chandler: I 

[00:10:04] Anna May: know. I would say You can have a few. I'll let you have a few. I would I think, we'll look at all the different shapes. I think that Linda's baby. Yeah, okay. It's a classic. It's just so popular. And it's so pretty. And it just bobs away there. Just looking so dreamy and soft pink and just fabulous.

[00:10:26] Anna May: Yeah. I love Great Silence. 

[00:10:30] Roz Chandler: Yeah, I'm gonna write these down. My goodness. Gorgeous water Lily isn't an excuse to buy some 

[00:10:35] Anna May: more. Yes, exactly. You must. It's just so vibrant. So vibrant. I just love it. And it is always one of the tallest, it will usually grow as tall, if not tall than me. Woo.

[00:10:46] Anna May: Yeah. Labyrinth couldn't be without labyrinth. I'm very much peachy, coral y. Those are 

[00:10:53] Roz Chandler: They're in vogue. That's 

[00:10:54] Anna May: what everybody wants. I just love them, and you get a collection of those together. Cornell Bronze is hugely popular. Trying 

[00:11:04] Roz Chandler: to get them is quite a challenge. Cornell Bronze, trying to get them as a tuper.

[00:11:09] Anna May: Yeah. What else? Oh, I quite like a preference or a Henriette. They're pretty, pale, spiky. And I look, actually, same shape but different color. Chat Noir. I love Chat Noir. Very dramatic. I haven't found so much call for the dark tubers, the dark dahlias in the last couple of years.

[00:11:31] Anna May: No. All those burgundies, deep reds, the dark ones, the Sam Hopkins, that sort of thing. For some reason, not quite so 

[00:11:40] Roz Chandler: popular. I'm growing some this year, only because I thought the trends might be dark with apricots again this year, who knows. So I'm growing some Ivaneta, which are nearly black. 

[00:11:49] Anna May: Yeah.

[00:11:49] Anna May: I like that. I like that. Yeah. I do, I grow, I'm like you, I grow all those colours because you don't know exactly what the trend is going to be. But also there are different Different people like different things. Last year, I would say just the majority of brides wanted the peachy coral. 

[00:12:08] Roz Chandler: Yes, 

[00:12:09] Anna May: 100%.

[00:12:10] Anna May: Much less. In maybe four or five years ago, it was all about the whites and the pale pinks and the blacks. Yes. But not so much, but I'm still growing them because there will always be, a bride who does want those colors. So I tried to grow most things. I'm not mad about yellow.

[00:12:27] Roz Chandler: I'm not mad about yellow. I grow a few yellow, but more yellow with something else, like a Bow Delicious is yellow and reddy. I don't grow pure yellow. No, 

[00:12:36] Anna May: I've got a couple of primrose, pale primrose yellow, because if it's a pale pastel y colours for a bride, but nothing too bright.

[00:12:45] Anna May: No. 

[00:12:46] Roz Chandler: It's weird, isn't it? We're going to have to see. The Pantone colour of the year is blushy pinky this year, and that kind of dictates maybe the trend. So we're growing lots of coral flowers anyway, and lots of dahlias. I love, I used to have a love hate relationship with Café Au Lait, and I've still got a love hate relationship with it.

[00:13:03] Roz Chandler: I've got a hate relationship with it because it's very tall, and it's very big, and there's not much you can do with it. Yeah. In terms of putting it in bouquets and that sort of thing. But a bride still loves it. So I've got a love hate relationship with it, and it needs a massive amount of support, otherwise the whole thing will fall over.

[00:13:17] Roz Chandler: It wasn't built, I don't think, for that big flower at the end, but I love that. And my other favourite, my favourite probably of all time, is Berleska. 

[00:13:25] Anna May: So it's Oh, yes. So useful. Yeah, it's my useful one. Yeah, I love Beleska. Yes, I do grow that. Café au Lait, I find is a right pain, actually. It's really late.

[00:13:39] Anna May: Yeah, for me, really late to come up. It's temperamental. I, one year, about four years ago, I had more Café au Lait than I could shake a stick at and nobody wanted it. Confident. Yeah, so then I grew hardly any the following year and everybody wanted it. Yeah, I've got one tube now that I kept last year that is really small heads.

[00:14:01] Anna May: Ah, so that's better. Which is really good. And so I've got that one on here because I want to propagate that because if I can have them with a manageable size head, then that's great. But otherwise, too big, they just flop. And that's the reason I don't really Grow many of the dinner plates because they're just too big for the florists that I sell to, 

[00:14:23] Roz Chandler: They don't want them.

[00:14:24] Roz Chandler: No, I can't use them. I'll have a burlesque or any time over a cafe au lait because I can't use them. 

[00:14:29] Anna May: Exactly. Exactly. I've got a couple of what have I got? A couple of Otto's thrill and Penihill watermelon, just because you get the odd person who wants them, but I don't favor them. And I just, they're just too big.

[00:14:41] Anna May: They're too unwieldy. 

[00:14:43] Roz Chandler: Yeah, absolutely. You talk about support. Are you using jute netting or netting? What do you do for support? I 

[00:14:48] Anna May: use horizontal netting all the way down all the beds. And then for some of the bigger ones, also I'll use canes as well. Sometimes they need them. In an ideal world the netting will be enough.

[00:15:02] Anna May: I don't use jute because it rots. So I'm afraid I do use plastic because it comes back year on year. Okay. So I think I'm trying to, I work out what's better. Replacing it or not. So I use the plastic one. And it's mostly okay. But you know what dahlias are like, they grow big and tall.

[00:15:19] Anna May: They've got lots of, lots of flowers, lots of big, heavy blooms, and you get the wrong wind, then, you can have a disaster. But 

[00:15:26] Roz Chandler: we had an experiment last year, which was a really an experiment. And also because we didn't have enough time, we didn't support any of ours. So we didn't support any of our dailies at all, but we grew them so close together.

[00:15:37] Roz Chandler: And they were quite close to a windshield, because there was trees all along the edge, or even though they were in sun. And they grew enormously, like six foot, and they all supported each other. And yes, we lost a few, but Honestly, we got away with it, and I'm not sure we're going to get away with it again, but it was quite funny to just do it and see what would happen.

[00:15:58] Roz Chandler: I think 

[00:15:58] Anna May: that's good, and I think that they do grow very tall if they're looking for the light, and they have to compete for the light if there's lots of them around, because that's what tends to happen in our vegetable garden, because it's surrounded with hedges. We tend to get them growing quite well because they're tall.

[00:16:14] Anna May: But but I think, well done. If that worked I would keep going 

[00:16:18] Roz Chandler: with it. I think there was a bit of a fluke really more than anything else. I think it was like, woo! 

[00:16:23] Anna May: Maybe it's fantastic if they're gonna hold themselves up. 

[00:16:25] Roz Chandler: I know, because support is quite, quite a big job, isn't it? Yeah. And then they're harder to cut when they're 

[00:16:31] Anna May: supported.

[00:16:31] Anna May: Yeah, they really are. So if you can try that again, I'd be all for 

[00:16:35] Roz Chandler: that. So what do you do with your flowers? What markets do you do? What kind, how do you get rid of 

[00:16:40] Anna May: them? I've got some florists that buy from me every week, for their shops. And, but most of what I do is for the wholesale.

[00:16:52] Anna May: For florists for events and weddings, that sort of thing, or for DIY brides who will buy, so these people will buy anything from, maybe 60 to five or 600, depending on what they need. So that's the majority of what I do, but I've got a couple of florists who have them in their shop every week.

[00:17:12] Roz Chandler: Brilliant. You've got to find your market, haven't you? Because it's almost we decided one year we were going to go tulips. Tulips would be a really nice thing to grow. It's an early thing, but you've got to grow really unusual tulips to make any money out of it. If you're going to grow yellow and red, forget it, just in that way.

[00:17:24] Roz Chandler: So we grew tulips that were 1. 2 meters tall. We grew very different. People look at them and go, isn't that a tulip? And we grew them all. We, wait for this, we bought 30, 000 tulip bulbs and we put them in. And we haven't really worked out who we're going to sell them to at that point, which is a real cardinal sin.

[00:17:38] Roz Chandler: That's true. And I tell people on all my courses, of course have a market and make sure, but this particular time we didn't, it was a cardinal sin. And so as they started to bloom, we started to think, Oh no, what are we going to do with all 000 tulips? So because they were quite unusual, one day I just loaded, I was a bit dowboyish, I loaded the van up and took it down to London and opened it.

[00:17:57] Roz Chandler: And I went down to Victoria and Scarlett, who's a very well known wedding florist, and I think she employs something like 10 staff full time, massive florists in Kensal Green. And I went in and they were really harassed and they were doing big events and I was really nervous and I just went in and said, I look, I've got some tulips in the back of my van, do you want to buy some?

[00:18:14] Roz Chandler: And they all looked at me as if I'd gone mad because they were all normally bought from Covent Garden. And then Victoria said, okay, I'll come and have a look, but I've only got a minute. So I was really harassed. I've only got a minute. So out she comes and I opened the back of the van, she buys the whole lot.

[00:18:28] Roz Chandler: And there were a thousand tulips in there on that day. Different, but I think you got, should work out your market in advance, and this was a bit seat of pants, but what that taught me, two things, is that you shouldn't do it like that, and secondly that you should do it earlier and have your wholesale florists all lined up, ready to take whatever you've got.

[00:18:46] Roz Chandler: Yeah. 

[00:18:46] Anna May: Yeah, but good for you. Good for you. And you knew what they were like. You knew they were fabulous tulips. Yes, I did. 

[00:18:55] Roz Chandler: Yeah. And I've bought the same again, because obviously I'm stupid. And so I'm ready now, but I'm a bit more prepared. Because we've still, because most of the 30, 000 we pulled out on the bowl to get stem ends.

[00:19:05] Roz Chandler: But we left a lot in, so they're all going to come back. As long as the ones that we've already planted this year. Who knows? So you're 

[00:19:11] Anna May: going to have a lot of tulips. Yeah. Tulip 

[00:19:14] Roz Chandler: mania. It's gonna 

[00:19:15] Anna May: be mad. It's difficult though, getting your market because that is definitely one of the tricky balances is you think I sold this many last year, so I need to grow this many.

[00:19:27] Anna May: But then, some weeks you just think, I just, I haven't got very many orders and I've got all these dahlias and I can give away only so many. And I can, as I said to you, I could only have so many in the house. In every room. It's a bit much. Every room. But then, and that does get a bit it just gets a bit depressing because you think I've grown them all.

[00:19:47] Anna May: Why does everybody want them? Always. First couple of weekends in September, you've got, ten weddings, thousands and thousands going out. But nothing, for the couple of weeks before that or after that. And that is, that's a bit of a headache, is that you've got to have them all there, all waiting in the field.

[00:20:07] Anna May: And you think, come on, somebody. 

[00:20:09] Roz Chandler: We've been doing the London plough markets as well, because I suppose we're only about an hour from London and on a Sunday, that's fine. And that does really well because they're in lovely areas and people come and buy their cheeses and meats and their London plough markets.

[00:20:22] Roz Chandler: And you have to be within 50 miles of the M25, I think. And that worked for us. We then sold the rest of our tulips there. To be fair, we would take down 3, 000 tulips and we'd sell out. Yeah. That's amazing, isn't it? We'll be doing that again. Yeah, so I think it's about having those markets ready, isn't it?

[00:20:36] Roz Chandler: And about having enough wholesale florists and enough event florists who know you and enough Yeah. Don't get me Exactly. 

[00:20:44] Anna May: And then that brings you onto, doing all the, you've got to keep up with all the social media and stuff. Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. You've got to do it. And you just think I've got to make sure that a, I love it because I love, Instagram because you've got everybody putting things on.

[00:20:59] Anna May: You've got lots of lovely flowers. How I found you. Yeah. You see what people are doing and I love all that, but equally I need people to see them because. Then they will buy them, but obviously a lot of people in Instagram are miles away, other countries, they're not going to be buying them.

[00:21:16] Anna May: No, 

[00:21:16] Roz Chandler: so what you have to do, two things probably with that, you probably just have to put your location tagged on all your own posts so you get a location of where you are, so therefore it comes up a bit better there. And two, maybe, I've often thought about drying dahlias, but I think it's quite tough, I think they're quite fragile, but mailing out dried dahlias, maybe.

[00:21:33] Roz Chandler: Yeah, 

[00:21:33] Anna May: I see Philippa, Stuart, Dahlia's doing that, and hers are incredible, absolutely amazing. And I think, I just don't think I can add another thing to my to do list. I just think I would be absolutely mad to, to do that. But they do look incredible, and I had no idea before I saw hers that Dahlia's, I 

didn't 

[00:21:53] Roz Chandler: think they dried 

[00:21:53] Anna May: very well.

[00:21:54] Anna May: They dried like that, with the colours, really good strong colours. 

[00:21:58] Roz Chandler: I think you've got to choose which ones. You've probably got to join, take your burlesque because don't take your big ones. Take your small ones. Yeah. I think you, I'm going to try it. I'm going to try it this year, not commercially, but I'm going to try it and see how it works.

[00:22:11] Roz Chandler: Cause I have to say the demand for dry flowers over the winter was huge for us. So things like straw flowers and honesty and ammonium and gypsophilia, all fine. I might just see whether I can add to daily, but I think there's a particular way of trying them. 

[00:22:24] Anna May: I'd say this one. Yeah, I don't know if you can see that.

[00:22:27] Anna May: Yes, it's beautiful. That is just, that's one that got knocked off. The head got knocked off in the car when I was delivering some. And I found it. And I actually think it's nicer than that particular dahlia is when it's fresh. that dahlia when it's fresh. But that, I just think it's really sweet. So I keep it on my desk.

[00:22:45] Roz Chandler: So some of them maybe. I don't know. It's about keeping the income going all year, isn't it? It's it's quite difficult. Yeah. So tell us, we're talking about highs and lows now, the lovely world of social media. We'll come on to that. What do you think has been your greatest challenge as a flower farmer business?

[00:23:00] Roz Chandler: Some highs and lows. What do you think they are? 

[00:23:02] Anna May: I think my infrastructure wasn't ideal initially. And. I was juggling without, I've got a tunnel now, but initially I was juggling with just a greenhouse and just storing them and so they were, I stored a load one year. I lined the greenhouse with fleece and I thought I'd protected it.

[00:23:28] Anna May: Because I just didn't have anywhere else to keep them and I lost a load in the cold. In the frost, yeah. Yeah, and that was really depressing because I was going through them just finding what could be salvaged and my salvaged pile was considerably smaller than my compost pile, and that was, really depressing.

[00:23:48] Anna May: Yeah. It was just, it was it was my fault because I was the one storing them, but I didn't have an alternative. And so after that, I. Because we're waiting to build a shed and until we can do that I had to go and borrow a shed to put them in and then I was toing and froing. So that was a bit of a faff.

[00:24:08] Anna May: So that's another reason I'm propagating some because instead of keeping a thousand tubers, which was just too much for me to try and juggle that's why I think I only kept about four or five hundred last year. With the intention of propagating some, spitting some. So I still have my stock of about a thousand, but I didn't have to store.

[00:24:27] Anna May: So that was a 

[00:24:28] Roz Chandler: big Yeah, storing. 

[00:24:30] Anna May: Yeah, that was a big mistake. And that was really depressing because it's also such a waste of money. 

[00:24:38] Roz Chandler: I think that's the thing if you sit and look at that pile and go right there's 500 tubers there and let's say on average in retail you're paying if you're lucky five pound a tuber.

[00:24:47] Roz Chandler: So then you look at it and go five times 500 that is a lot of money. Oh dear I've only got a hundred over here. That is depressing. It is depressing. It's 

[00:24:54] Anna May: really depressing because not only have you lost them and that much money but you're gonna have to fork out to replace. So it's double the money isn't it?

[00:25:02] Anna May: So That's that's been depressing. But then there's something magical about Davies, isn't there? I suppose it's like childbirth or something. You're walking through all those, just those rows and rows of just unbelievably beautiful flowers in the summer and you forget! 

[00:25:19] Roz Chandler: It's like childbirth, you forget what 

[00:25:21] Anna May: it's do it again.

[00:25:23] Anna May: Yeah, I know, because otherwise you wouldn't do it. Not I wouldn't, because the digging up and then the planting again and all that, I just, I do dread. Those two weekends, when we've got to get them all in and then when we've got to get them all 

[00:25:37] Roz Chandler: out. All out. Yeah, they have to move to Milton Keynes.

[00:25:41] Roz Chandler: So if you were going to recommend to somebody to go and be a flower farmer. What do you, what would you recommend? I mean I always think, personally I always think, to be a flower farmer is, it's a blooming hard job, number one. And two, I think, with people who've got a full time job, I always advise them not to give up their full time job to begin with.

[00:25:59] Roz Chandler: I say transition really slowly, give one day up a week, and maybe you earn 50, 000 a year and that one day is 10, 000. Give that up and earn 10, 000 and then work it out. And then if you give two days up, earn 20, 000 and then work it out. If you give up your day job at 50, 000, and I presume you're going to earn it in flower farming, it isn't going to happen.

[00:26:17] Roz Chandler: It's not going to happen for three years if you're lucky and have built really diverse income streams. Lots of ways you can earn lots of money in different ways. And so that was always been my number one advice. And number two, it's great fun. There's absolutely no doubt it's great fun. It's 12 months of the year and it's hard work, physically hard work as well.

[00:26:38] Roz Chandler: So what would you say? I think it's the best job in the world, but 

[00:26:42] Anna May: I think you're right. I think you've got to be very sensible and not just go I'm chucking everything in. This is what I'm going to do. You really need to slowly fold it into your existing, work.

[00:26:55] Anna May: Because it is something you can do evenings and weekends. So it is something that you can integrate into your life without losing your income. Because there are disasters like me and the dahlias in the greenhouse. So you really do not want to be putting all your eggs in the greenhouse.

[00:27:12] Anna May: Into one basket. And I think people would be surprised how much you can achieve. evenings and weekends. So I absolutely agree with you. That's what I would do. And I would also, yes, I would make sure that you are going to have somebody to sell your flowers to. Make sure you're not deciding to be a flower farmer.

[00:27:34] Anna May: in an area that's already got, I don't know how many, like 10 other flower farmers within five mile radius because they're already doing it. They've established a market. They've got their customers and there's no guarantee that those people will also want to buy from you or, there's no reason why they would stop buying from somebody they've bought from.

[00:27:53] Anna May: Yeah. So I think that's really important. And be aware of your limitations. 

[00:28:00] Roz Chandler: Financially and time. Yeah, 

[00:28:03] Anna May: sometimes I just, firstly, I just think I can't be bothered, I cannot be bothered to keep going today. I've got to stop or I can't afford to, I can't afford to do another two heated mats this year.

[00:28:16] Anna May: I'm going to have to, make do with what I've got, you, you can't. Don't go mad, either with what you think you're able to achieve physically, and with time. When you've got a family, when you've got other things to do and with money, I think. 

[00:28:31] Roz Chandler: Yeah, I think you've really got to watch the money because it's quite easy to get carried away in lots of ways.

[00:28:36] Roz Chandler: It's easy to buy loads of seeds, for instance, because they seem cheap. A packet seems cheap. You haven't worked out the compost and the planting and the time and the Yeah, I think, we've been doing it 15 years now and we have now got to a price per stem in terms of what it takes us to grow it because I've got four staff now, so that's quite a large overhead.

[00:28:54] Roz Chandler: Yeah. And they're employed 12 months of the year, they don't just do the summer, so in six months of the year you're not earning anything, so how do you cope for that? It is the best job in the world, but you've got to work it all out and be really cautious about what you're spending.

[00:29:06] Roz Chandler: Exactly. 

[00:29:07] Anna May: And that's why, it's very much me, my husband helps me with the heavy stuff, I've got a friend who helps me a lot with the mental stuff, and also with some of the physical stuff out there. But I can't really go to having a lot of staff because they're just, because my market is it's not all year.

[00:29:28] Anna May: It's only for a few months. There is a finite amount. What I can grow and what I can sell and therefore what I can make. So 

[00:29:35] Roz Chandler: it's the same. I spoke to a pe e farmer. She's the same, she's got three weeks. Yeah. And she's got a flog, everything she's got in three weeks and she does really well and makes really good income in those weeks.

[00:29:45] Roz Chandler: And the rest of the time she works as a supply teacher because what is she gonna be doing in December and January and February and March. 

[00:29:50] Anna May: Exactly. Exactly. It's that does, that raises the blood pressure though, doesn't it? Because you think I've got three weeks, yes.

[00:29:57] Anna May: And that's it. And you don't want to have anything go wrong. 

[00:30:01] Roz Chandler: No, it's really tough. It's tough, but it's lovable. So as a flower farmer, you do need to be everything, don't you? You need to be a marketer. You definitely need to be a social media whiz. For me, it helps that I was a marketing director.

[00:30:12] Roz Chandler: So people say to me, wow, Ros, how have you got 158, 000 Instagram followers? Because that was my job. And I know, know what I've got to do. Yeah. So I've got a real advantage. 100%. You need to be an accountant. Don't like doing that. That's boring. You need to be a grower. Of course, you need to know everything.

[00:30:29] Roz Chandler: You've got to be a customer service guru as well. You've got to be able to answer all those questions and you've got to be really nice to everybody. So what do you think is challenging? What do you think is the most challenging for you in a business arena? The 

[00:30:42] Anna May: most challenging. I think that as we, we covered the social media is a struggle because I know I've got to do it.

[00:30:50] Anna May: And I did find that quite hard to do. I'm not a great networker. I'm a bit too do, I'm a bit reticent, a bit British and reticent sometimes about, Going into a florist and going, Hi, do you know that I'm down the road? I grow dahlias, that sort of thing. I do, I know I need to push myself a bit more because firstly, because I do.

[00:31:11] Anna May: And secondly, because there's other people around here that grow. There's nobody right here that just grows dahlias, there's a lot of other really good growers. So I need to, keep on top of it. So I just, I think you've got to push yourself in a business way.

[00:31:23] Anna May: Definitely. 

[00:31:24] Roz Chandler: Deep breath, walk in. And also the thing I always remember when I'm selling are the two pieces of advice I give to flower farmers. The first one is between nine and ten in the morning, what are you selling? And they go, what do you mean? And I say, between 9 and 10, just think about selling something.

[00:31:39] Roz Chandler: And that doesn't mean you're going to sell something that day. That means you're going to plan, you're going to do something on social media, you're going to have a special offer, you're going to get your customers in vouchers. And between 9 and 10, that's all you do. You don't think about anything else but prospecting between 9 and 10.

[00:31:51] Roz Chandler: And then the second thing I want you to do is just remember that your product is the best thing in the world. And actually, those people in that florist shop want your product. Yeah. Like 

[00:31:59] Anna May: you with the tulips. 

[00:32:01] Roz Chandler: Yeah, desperate. I'm going for it. Yeah. That's true. And we all have it. We have the imposter syndrome and what if, and what if they say no.

[00:32:08] Roz Chandler: And, out of 20, 18 might say no, but two might say yes. Yes, you're 

[00:32:12] Anna May: right. I like the idea of the small window because that doesn't feel so daunting. You don't think I've got to do this all day. No. I'm really going to focus on that hour. I think that's really good advice. 

[00:32:22] Roz Chandler: So it's like between nine and 10, you go, okay I've only got 10 wholesale floors, so how do I get another 10?

[00:32:26] Roz Chandler: So this week I'm going to spend five hours, one hour a day, and I'm going to get another two each day. And it's that break it down into it. Cause otherwise it's Oh, I've got to make 20 reels. And I do a reel a day. Sometimes I batch them. Yeah, I do them a lot. And that's why I've got 158, 000 Instagram followers.

[00:32:42] Roz Chandler: Cause it's all in video. It's not in static. It's all in reels, really. 

[00:32:46] Anna May: You see what you're very good at is you put yourself. in front of the camera. 

[00:32:51] Roz Chandler: I do, and sometimes I don't feel wonderful. I have to tell you, sometimes it's oh god, this dungarees look, and I can tell you that people will tell you what you look like in it anyway, and sometimes, and I've just, you become very thick skinned, and I, sometimes I actually now don't feel it today, but then I think and I can tell you that the reels that I'm in, The engagement is much bigger than the reels I am not in.

[00:33:14] Roz Chandler: See, 

[00:33:15] Anna May: and I'm always impressed by all those ones that you do. And I, and then I'll see somewhere, somebody's making comments on this is how to engage, show your face. And I just think, who wants to see my face? It's about the failures. It's about the failures. It's not! It's 

[00:33:33] Roz Chandler: not about the dahlias.

[00:33:35] Roz Chandler: It's not really, it's not. Because I could probably grow as nice dahlias as you, but it's not about the dahlias, it's about your story. Why are you doing it? How are you doing it? Oh, you're on clay, that must be really difficult. And some of your struggles, I can tell you, that if you'd done a reel on your dahlias you had to throw away, that probably would have got more following than anything else.

[00:33:55] Roz Chandler: Because it's about kind of integrity and about your, it's real. Life isn't full of, gingham, beautiful dresses and going through the daily fields and picking them and isn't that lovely? That's part of it, of course, it's part of it. But it's, 99 percent of it isn't. 90 percent of it is digging.

[00:34:12] Roz Chandler: I would just advise you take video of everything you're doing. Like when you're out there putting them in and it's digging, it's really tough and you've been out there eight hours and it starts to rain. That's the 

[00:34:21] Anna May: reality. Yeah, exactly. You're right. And I was just thinking when I was walking the dogs earlier and I walked past the beds and they've got puddles in.

[00:34:28] Anna May: Yeah, definitely. wet and I just thought, you know what, I should take a picture of that. Never mind a picture of lovely jolly dahlias 

[00:34:35] Roz Chandler: that I put on. That's what I should do. Then if you took video of it now and just stored it on your phone, later on you can do the before and after. Yeah. Which is this is the reality of it.

[00:34:45] Roz Chandler: This is what it looked like in March. And look at it now, isn't it fabulous? So there's all of that. Yeah. 

[00:34:50] Anna May: You're very good at that. I see some of the stuff you do. I'm also not entirely sure how you've got, Enough time in the day to do what 

[00:34:58] Roz Chandler: you do. I store it all. I take loads of video all the time.

[00:35:02] Roz Chandler: All the time. So I'll have a massive amount on my phone. I'll have all the tulips we planted last year, for instance, in bloom. And then I'll show you it now and I've already got the footage from last year. So I'll have stored it all. So it's a case of storing it all. And actually then, it's really easy.

[00:35:17] Roz Chandler: It's really easy because I'll follow a trend and I'll follow a template that's already there and I'll just create it and I can create them and that's my between nine and ten. That's my, before I even think about something, create real today kind of instance. And what am I going to sell? And honestly, I, but you've got a lot of followers.

[00:35:35] Roz Chandler: You've done okay, actually. Yeah. You have got a lot of 

[00:35:39] Anna May: followers. Yeah, I know, but I just think that's the appeal of a jolly daily. I think if everybody's having a rubbish day, or there's just, there's such depressing stuff in the news, people love to see a jolly daily. But I think you're right. I think it also, it's worth saying, because obviously I show you the nice ones, not every daily I grow looks like this.

[00:35:58] Anna May: Thanks. So actually that's a very valid point, is show a bit of reality. The ones that have gone 

[00:36:03] Roz Chandler: over, the ones that are mouldy at the back, the ones you 

[00:36:06] Anna May: can't sell. Yeah, and the things that have gone horribly wrong or, your favourite one that's snapped in the wind or something, yes.

[00:36:13] Roz Chandler: Definitely. It's I think that's what people buy. They buy a story, they don't buy data. I hate to say that, but you're Greta, everybody on here on the podcast is now going to come and follow you because you're going to put all your Insta, let, tell us what your Instagram handle is and we will put it in the show notes as well.

[00:36:28] Roz Chandler: What's it daily? Dorset Dahlias. Couldn't be any easier at Dorset Dahlias. So do go and follow Anna at Dorset Dahlias. It is beautiful. The feed is beautiful, there's no doubt. And people love a beautiful feed. And I can see your dog and people love beautiful dogs too. You've got the same as me.

[00:36:44] Roz Chandler: It's all of that. It's your life, isn't it? Without going too into your life. So things I wouldn't share, of course. But there's a point, isn't there? It's about, but that's interesting. So what next? Just more Dahlias? 

[00:36:55] Anna May: More diners, but not more beds, because I think that what I've got now, I think we've probably got about, it's a, it's about a quarter of an acre that's actually, that we actually use.

[00:37:08] Anna May: But I can't do more than that without having somebody else probably helping me. And for the reasons we've already discussed, I need to keep it more or less at just me. Enough dailies to fill the beds, enough dailies to fill the vegetable gardens, nevermind the vegetables. That's I think where we're at.

[00:37:27] Anna May: But it's lovely seeing them going, far afield. And then people will send me pictures of their weddings and what have you. And I love seeing that because, I see them in the field or I see them in the buckets. When I see them actually 

[00:37:40] Roz Chandler: Being used 

[00:37:41] Anna May: in a bouquet. Yeah, something like that.

[00:37:43] Anna May: I'm so thrilled because, I think, oh, I just, I love, not only because I grew that, but because whoever the person is, they love it. They love it and it's on their big day. So that's something that's you do it. In fact, just seeing somebody when they come and collect. They're flowers, or if I'm delivering them, when they see them, and it's maybe, probably the Friday before their wedding, the day before their wedding, and you see their face when they see all these.

[00:38:12] Anna May: And you just think, that makes it right. 

[00:38:14] Roz Chandler: Coromus, I know. I know that's why you do it ultimately. Whereabouts in Dorset are you, so people can find you as well? We're 

[00:38:20] Anna May: West Dorset, we're between Bridport and Lyme Regis, and just by the border into Devon. Oh, 

[00:38:25] Roz Chandler: so you've got a lovely, yeah, you've got a lovely area.

[00:38:30] Roz Chandler: Yes. That's what you've got visions of dahlia fields, near the sea. What more could you want? I know, 

[00:38:36] Anna May: it's lovely. 

[00:38:37] Roz Chandler: With spaniels. Coromus. With spaniels. Honestly, you've added the spaniels, that's it now. Mine's in here sniffing and snorting and thinking I want attention.

[00:38:45] Roz Chandler: But yeah, it's really funny, because she hasn't been walked yet, but she will do. Anna, it's lovely to have you over, and lovely to be in our podcast, and we will put all of your website, your social media handles, all in the show notes. We'll let you know when it goes live, and we will tag you in it. 

[00:39:00] Anna May: Thank you.

[00:39:01] Anna May: Lovely to talk to you. I feel I've had so much advice. Good advice 

[00:39:05] Roz Chandler: as well. You can always ask me. I'm always very happy. I just love it. I love flower farming just generally. And yeah, I did it as a part time job for years and years before I jumped. And I knew nothing about growing. I had three raised beds and I thought, what do I do here then?

[00:39:20] Roz Chandler: I have no idea. No family who knew anything. So it was 

[00:39:22] Anna May: It's a fantastic story then because you've made 

[00:39:24] Roz Chandler: a huge success. Thanks. Yeah, I knew nothing. Zero. Absolute zero. And yeah, I've learned a lot along the way and lots of failures, I could assure you. But yeah, no, it's great.

[00:39:34] Roz Chandler: It's a full time job now, obviously, and more. Seven days a week. But yeah, it's a nice way to make a living. 

[00:39:39] Anna May: Brilliant. Brilliant. Oh, it's been so lovely to 

[00:39:42] Roz Chandler: speak with you. I'll keep you posted. And you, stay in 

[00:39:45] Anna May: touch. I will do. so much. And if I'm in 

[00:39:48] Roz Chandler: Dorset, I'll come and visit you.

[00:39:49] Anna May: Definitely. Definitely do.

[00:39:51] Anna May: I'll come and 

[00:39:51] Roz Chandler: say hello. Hello to you in Espanol. That's fine. Brilliant. Lovely. Thanks very much, Anna. Take care. Bye. 

[00:39:59] Anna May: Bye.