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 You can click the Buy Me A Coffee link here or on the website to buy a virtual coffee and join the crew and get a shout out. Everyone shares their stories for free and I make it because I love it but there are costs like the hosting platform and the editing programmes etc. Buy Me A Coffee THANK YOU! Mentioned in this episode: Finalist in the Independent Podcast Awards 2024 Check out the blog to see what happens! Our Plant Stories blog Our Plant Stories website