Have you fallen in love with dahlias this year? Perhaps you have loved them for many years. But have you ever thought of harvesting the seed from your favourite blooms and creating your own unique flowers? Listen to hear how this is exactly what Philippa Stewart has been doing for the past few years.

We also learn about the relationship between the grower and the floral designer as Philippa in conversation with Leigh Chappell, describes how they work together to produce stunning installations using Philippa's flowers.

You can find Philippa Stewart, a dahlia farmer, at her Instagram account: Just Dahlias

Leigh Chappell is a floral designer - you can see her work on her website here. Or follow Leigh on Instagram.

Leigh will be designing with Philippa's unique dahlia blooms at the Strawberry Hill flower festival which takes place in Horace Walpole's 18th Century gothic villa (Twickenham, London) between the Friday 13th - Sunday 15th September 2024. 30 floral designers will be "pushing the boundaries of sustainable floristry". Booking is advised.

02.00 How do you become a dahlia farmer?

05.10  The first 70 dahlias

08.00 Selling the first bucket of flowers

09.45 Can you dry dahlia flowers?

12.27 Growing from seed

15.00 Working with a floral designer

20.20 What’s a floral installation?

22.30 The Japanese art of Ikebana

23.30 How to save dahlia seed

30.15 When to sow your dahlia seeds

Our Plant Stories is presented and produced by Sally Flatman

The music is Fade to Black by Howard Levy

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Mentioned in this episode:

Finalist in the Independent Podcast Awards 2024

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