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Aren't flowers just the perfect little pockets of joy? I have been following Claudia from In the Garden with Claudia on Instagram for over a year now, and I live for her cut flower garden stories! I’ve been feeling a little humbled by my own garden setbacks in South Florida recently. So when I finally got her on the podcast, I thought we were going to do a straight-up how-to on growing flowers. And we did, kind of. But this conversation turned into what flowers can actually do for you! Claudia has turned her space into a garden with thousands of blooms that make me excited for my next garden season. I hope this helps you find your own smile as big as the one Claudia put on my face! Let's jump in!

 

In this episode, we learn:

• [03:40] Meet Claudia, the queen of backyard cut flower joy!
• [04:56] How she turned her backyard into a cut flower garden
• [07:31] She was a pre-dental student!? (a career pivot)
• [09:49] What her first couple of seasons gardening looked like
• [14:08] Why Claudia chose a production-style layout over traditional garden design
• [15:29] Fuel your garden mornings with the caramel-tasting bioactives in Manukora Honey!
• [17:15] Building her dream garden on a budget!
• [19:53] Claudia’s experience from disliking to growing dahlias
• [22:38] How to seed start indoors (Claudia grows 4000+ seeds!)
• [26:09] My biggest pain point right now
• [28:21] What is Claudia’s cut flower planting strategy for dahlias?
• [31:03] How she spaces and organizes her dahlia beds
• [32:08] Our favorite Espoma Organic products!
• [34:27] How and when to fertilize dahlias throughout the growing season
• [35:46] How to set up irrigation for cut flowers
• [36:38] Daily maintenance routines for better airflow and pest defense
• [38:28] Why you should deadhead your flowers for more blooms
• [39:50] How to manage and share excess flowers?
• [42:18] Selling her first massive bouquets at the office!
• [44:41] How to structure a flower CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
• [48:03] What are Claudia’s joyful practices in her garden?
• [50:59] How the ‘In the Garden with Claudia’ YouTube channel started
• [54:52] Claudia’s dream of scaling up to a Washington flower farm
• [56:58] Where to find Claudia’s social media and upcoming resources!

 

 

 

Order my book!

Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

 

 

Claudia’s Cut Flower Garden

Claudia’s all about ‘production.’ Her goal is to harvest the blooms! She really treats her property like a backyard flower farm, focusing on filling every bed with rows of flowers meant for bouquets.

Note: You can start your own version in just a few raised beds to see what grows best in your zone.

 

 

Cut Flowers You Can Grow

I used to be a dahlia skeptic because digging up tubers in the winter back in Zone 6 felt like so much work. Claudia didn’t like them at first either! But she got her hands on some Cafe Au Lait dahlia, and it is now the center of her garden.

She took Floret’s farming courses and built relationships with some of the biggest names in the flower farming community. Now she grows around 450 dahlia tubers every season.

Here's what her cut flower garden consists of today:

• Dahlias
• Zinnias
• Cosmos
• Phlox
• Lisianthus
• Scabiosa
• Blue disc flowers

 

 

How to Grow Cut Flowers at Home

Claudia grows around 4,000 to 5,000 seeds every season… while working a full-time corporate job.

Here's how she manages to have a thriving flower garden:

 

Starting Your Seeds:

Since she does everything indoors, her setup is pretty simple:

• Costco metal shelving racks on wheels
• T8 fluorescent shop lights (affordable grow lights)
• 50-cell seed trays
• A dedicated spare room she calls her seed-starting room

 

She starts seeds on a rotating calendar so she can harden things off in batches and never run out of shelf space.

And she’s also an Espoma girlie like me and swears by their Bio-tone Starter Plus and Land & Sea Gourmet Compost!

 

Watering:

Claudia says drip tape irrigation is important! For dahlias specifically, she does a deep and slow watering to encourage roots to grow down instead of staying near the surface.

 

Planting (especially dahlias):

• Wait until soil temperatures are at least 55°F before putting tubers in the ground
• Plant eyes facing up, about 4 to 6 inches deep
• Don't water heavily right after planting. Wait until you see sprouts.

 

Ongoing Maintenance:

You should be checking your garden every day and look for:

• Pests
• Leaves that need stripping from the bottom of stems
• Blooms that are ready to deadhead or cut
• Anything that looks off

 

 

Spreading Joy One Bouquet at a Time

During COVID-19, Claudia also experienced the same setback as I and had her research lab shut down. Gardening soothed her soul, and as the flowers started to grow, she also realized the joy it brings to others.

So she started bringing flowers to neighbors (healthcare workers, nursing homes, etc.) to bring them a smile.

Then came the bouquet sales. She had SO MANY flowers growing and decided to bring them to her office for $20 each! Her coworkers were buying them before she even got them fully set up. This is where she realized where this is going.

She's now working toward a flower CSA and a full tuber-selling operation, doing it carefully and correctly, getting her agricultural certificates before shipping anything out of state. And she also keeps her YouTube channel growing!

 

 

 

Mentioned in our conversation:

• Growing Joy 258: Budget Friendly Ways to Elevate Your Garden with Robbie of Visit Our Garden
• Growing Joy 253: 5 Tips for Growing in Hot Climates with Janey of Dig Plant Water Repeat
• Flower Farming Workshop
• Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus
• Espoma Organic Land & Sea Gourmet Compost
• Espoma Organic Mushroom Compost Blend
• Espoma Organic Indoor!
• Alaska Morbloom Fertilizer
• Dan's Dahlias | Oakville WA

 

 

 

Thank you to our episode sponsor:

Manukora

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Go to manukora.com/bloom to get up to 31% off the starter kit that includes their 850+ Manukora honey jar, 5 honey travel sticks, a wooden spoon, and a guidebook, PLUS $25 worth of free gifts!

 

 

Follow Claudia:
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Instagram
Facebook
TikTok

 

 

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