Cutivate

Growing knowledge | Creating livelihoods

We help flower growers gain the knowledge and business skills required to develop a sustainable, agroecological enterprise.

Grow your business, your way!

Explore our range of courses to expand your knowledge.

Are you a new entrant to the floriculture industry? Have you been growing flowers as a hobby and are just starting to develop plans to launch a new business? Are you an experienced grower looking for guidance on taking your enterprise to the next level?

At Cultivate, we offer a range of educational courses to suit your needs. We also offer 1-2-1 flower-business coaching and a year-long mentoring program for growers. Whether you want to dip into one specific topic or dive deep into the detail with our Business Masterclass, we offer educational classes for growers at every stage of their business journey.

group coaching: wholesale growers

New for 2025/2026, our Wholesale Growers Group Coaching course is here to help growers with a strategy for planning and sales specifically targeted for those who intend to supply wholesale flowers to the floristry trade.

Florists are an incredibly important market for sales for flower growers and currently, supply from seasonal UK growers isn’t meeting the growing demand for locally-produced blooms. Cel’s work on her own flower farm is focused on wholesale supply, through direct-to-florist sales and to the commercial wholesale market. In this course she brings her expertise to help other wholesale growers to develop a strategy for sales that puts their business on a firm foundation for profitability.

The Wholesale Growers Group Coaching course takes place over six in-person sessions via Zoom. In each session we’ll be delving into a specific topic, with business targets to set and planning tasks to explore. Between sessions, participants will have access to a WhatsApp group where the learning and discussion continues.

COURSE DATES FOR 2025/26

The group coaching course commences on Wednesday 26th November 2025 at 9.00am; please see below for details of each session date. Sessions 1-4 will take place between 9.00-11.00 GMT; class time for sessions 5-6 will take place between 19.00-20.30 BST.

Investment: £350.00 per person

Session 1: Wed 26th November 2025; Routes to market - What is the size of the market for your flowers and how do you reach prospective customers?

Session 2: Wed 7th January 2026; Product development - Understanding customer demand and planning your crop production.

Session 3: Wed 4th February 2026; Selling strategy - Sell your floral product with confidence; grading and quality standards, and terms and conditions of business.

Session 4: Wed 4th March 2026; Sales targets, pricing and profitability - Sales projections, pricing strategy and analysing crop profitability - steps to ensuring financial sustainability.

Session 5: Wed 3rd June 2026; Mid-season check in

Session 6: Wed 7th October 2026; End-of-season follow up

FAQs

Is the Wholesale Growers Group Coaching course for me?

Are you a grower with a business model to supply flowers to the wholesale trade? Are you exploring the option of developing your business for wholesale sales? Whether you’re interested in supplying direct-to-florist, through wholesale hubs or directly to commercial wholesale, this coaching group will help to facilitate strategic planning for production and sales into the wholesale floristry market.

What are the course dates and times?

Session 1: Wed 26th November 2025, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Routes to market

Session 2: Wed 7th January 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Product development

Session 3: Wed 4th February 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Selling strategy

Session 4: Wed 4th March 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Sales targets, pricing and profitability

Session 5: Wed 3rd June 2026, 19.00-20.30 BST; Mid-season check in

Session 6: Wed 7th October 2026, 19.00-20.30 BST; End-of-season follow up

Can I pay in instalments?

Yes, you can; please contact me directly via email or our contact form to arrange for payment in instalments.

What happens if I can’t attend every session?

The group coaching classes will be recorded, but will only be sent to participants in the event that you are not able to attend; we do ask that you make every effort to attend each Zoom session in person as everyone’s experience is valuable in a group coaching setting. You will of course receive all of the course templates to use and continue to have access to the WhatsApp group, so any questions you may have can also be asked between sessions in the group chat.

What will I receive on the course?

Every participant has access to six in-person Zoom sessions with Cel across the season. In addition, you will receive a digital course document with templates for each of the topical tasks, and access to the WhatsApp group for participants to use for ongoing discussion between sessions.

group coaching: new growers

Our New Growers Group Coaching course has been developed especially for those who are new to the business of growing and selling flowers.

Launching any kind of new business can be a daunting task and small-scale growers face so many challenges! With growing demand for locally-grown flowers we need more people producing blooms for local customers. This coaching group aims to guide growers who are at an early stage in their business with help to understand the market for flowers, how to develop a business model that fulfils your financial aims, and how to consistently produce flowers for sale through the season.

The New Growers Group Coaching course takes place over three in-person sessions via Zoom. In each of the sessions we’ll be exploring a specific topic, and there will be planning tasks for each participant to complete to help build a strategy for sales for the season. Every participant will also have access to a WhatsApp group where you can ask any questions that may arise in between each coaching session.

COURSE DATES FOR 2025/26

The group coaching course commences on Monday 5th January 2026 at 9.00am; please see below for details of each session date.

Investment: £250.00 per person

Please contact me directly if you would like to pay in two instalments.

Session 1: Mon 5th January 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Markets and marketing - Where will you sell your flowers? Who are your customers and how will you reach them?

Session 2: Mon 2nd February 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Financial planning and pricing - earnings, turnover, pricing and sales targets - get ready for sales with a strategy!

Session 3: Mon 2nd March 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Growing and selling your flowers! - variety selection, succession sowing and making sure you have enough flowers to sell through the season.

FAQs

Is the New Growers Group Coaching course for me?

If you are just starting your flower-growing business or have been growing for a few years but would like to be more strategic with sales and crop production, this group is for you!

What are the course dates and times?

Session 1: Mon 5th January 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Markets and marketing

Session 2: Mon 2nd February 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Financial planning and pricing

Session 3: Mon 2nd March 2026, 9.00-11.00 GMT; Growing and selling your flowers!

Can I pay in instalments?

Yes, you can; please contact me directly via email or our contact form to arrange for payment in instalments.

What happens if I can’t attend every session?

The group coaching classes will be recorded, but will only be sent to participants in the event that you are not able to attend; we do ask that you make every effort to attend each Zoom session in person as everyone’s experience is valuable in a group coaching setting. You will of course receive all of the course templates to use and continue to have access to the WhatsApp group, so any questions you may have can also be asked between sessions in the group chat.

What will I receive on the course?

Every participant has access to three in-person Zoom sessions with Cel on the first Monday of the month between Jan-March 2026. In addition, you will receive a digital course document with templates for each of the topical tasks, and access to the WhatsApp group for participants to use for ongoing discussion between sessions.

Flower Farming Business Masterclass

Our flagship class - The Flower Farming Business Masterclass - is a comprehensive course of study for any grower who wants to develop a thriving business growing and selling cut flowers. This course brings together years of Cel Robertson’s horticultural and business experience to help you with strategies to grow your agroecological business with environmental and financial sustainability.

Whether you are a new or more experienced flower grower, the Flower Farming Business Masterclass has been developed to give you the planning tools you need to develop your enterprise in a way that aligns with your own values and sets your business on a foundation that allows you to grow in a sustainable way. The main objective of the course is to help the small-scale grower improve the productivity and profitability of their business.

The course covers a range of topics required for the development of a sustainable business model, with learning grouped into three modules; Business Planning, Production Planning, and Profitability and Pricing.

Module 1 - Business Planning

In Module 1, we focus on the systems and processes required for effective business planning. From analysing our values and understanding how to use this to develop brand affinity, to setting specific goals and targets for ourselves and looking at the steps we take through the marketing process - we’ll cover all of the aspects of formulating a plan of action that fits with your life and ideals. We’ll also look at practical tasks such as cash-flow forecasting and setting financial targets with ready-made templates for you to download and use as a guide for your own business planning.

Module 2 - Production Planning

Module 2 concentrates on the practicalities of small-scale flower production for agroecological growers. We look at what sustainability actually means for growers whilst investigating strategies for managing your production efficiently; understanding the importance of variety selection for your sales market; calculating quantities for production and record keeping; and look at practical cultivation techniques to improve quality, production rates and profitability.

Module 3 - Profitability and Pricing

In the third and final module of the course we examine the complexities of calculating our small farm production costs and look at strategies for profitable pricing. I’ll teach you how to run a Crop Enterprise Budget which is a key tool we all need to use in order to take the guesswork out of pricing! Understanding how to calculate potential yield, knowing the factors that affect crop profitability and using record keeping tools to effectively analyse and evaluate your production are all skills the small-scale grower requires in order to generate an income from their enterprise.

If we truly want to create livelihoods in a thriving, growing industry, getting to grips with the figures is the key to ensuring financial sustainability for our flower-growing businesses.

The course is taught in person by Cel, and takes place over three sessions via Zoom. Working through the course modules in small groups allows for lots of questions which is one of the benefits of face-to-face teaching over remote learning. Every session is recorded and each course participant receives a copy of their class recording to watch back at their leisure.

Each module comes with a digital course book, and a set of templates which are available to download; these can be used as a guide for setting up systems for analysis for your own business. Once the course is completed each participant also receives an invitation to join our Facebook Group where the information sharing continues!

COURSE DATES FOR 2025

GROUP A: 3rd - 10th - 17th November 2025; 9.00-11.45 GMT

GROUP B: 3rd - 10th - 17th November 2025; 13.00-15.45 GMT

Investment: £350.00 per person

Over the years, growers from all over the globe have attended my business course - from all across the UK and Ireland; from countries in Europe such as Belgium, Czechia, France, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden; growers in Canada and the United States across time zones and hardiness zones from Alberta to California, Texas and the Carolinas; and growers as far away as New Zealand - half a world away!

Testimonials

“Genuinely the most informational and truly knowledgable course out there! Worth every penny and more. Great balance of nitty gritty detail paired with relatable examples and extremely well built and functional spreadsheets to kick start your own data analysis. Thank you for always making yourself available for all the extra questions!”

Kate, Somerset

“Cel's clear vision and communication about how she runs her business has provided me with the materials to move my business forward and formulate a clear plan for future business strands.”

Treea, London

“I absolutely loved the course. The three sessions were content packed but not overwhelming. I felt that you really distilled down and explained the essentials of how to run a successful and profitable flower business. It was so interesting and I learnt so much. Your spreadsheets are incredible. Really grateful for the opportunity to learn from you, Cel, and it was worth every single penny. Thank you!”

Fiona Strachan

“I absolutely LOVED the course. The business module was specific to flower farmer which I found so much more helpful than generic business courses I have done. The process to work out price per stem for each crop based on actual cost of production to ensure we are pricing right is invaluable. We also feel more confident planning our new growing space and thinking more strategically with things such as path and bed spacing, also making things uniform to help with data collection and analysis.”

Megan, Derbyshire

“It gave me a clear vision about what I should do for the farm, in terms of business management. I am not sure I will be able to implement all of them but now I know how it looks when you are really "figures" oriented. Thank you for all your time and what you've shared.”

Marlène, Périgord, France

FAQs

Is this course for me?

If you’re serious about creating a livelihood by growing and selling cut flowers then this course is for you! It is a business-focused course of study for growers aiming for financial sustainability, so whether you are a beginner or a more experienced grower looking to take your enterprise to the next level, there is plenty of guidance to help you devise a plan of action for your business.

What happens if I miss one of the sessions?

Every session is recorded and the recording of the class is sent to each participant at the end of the day. Recordings are sent via WeTransfer and are available for download which means that each participant has a recording of their classes to keep forever; so if you are ill or have something unexpected happen which causes you will miss a class, you will still receive a recording of the session so you can catch up on the day’s teaching.

What will I receive on the course?

Every participant has access to three in-person Zoom sessions with Cel; the recordings of their classes to download and keep forever; a digital course document for each module; a digital Resources document; spreadsheet templates for for business planning, production planning AND my exclusive Crop Enterprise Budget sheet for calculating production costs and pricing; access to the Facebook group for participants of the course; AND a bonus group Q&A session on completion of the course (a one-hour evening session on Zoom - date tbc).

introduction to flower farming

Would you like to turn your passion for growing cut flowers into a business?

Our Introduction to Flower Farming workshop provides an insight into the the business of growing flowers for profit on a small scale, bio-intensive farm. This workshop takes place in person on the flower farm in North Norfolk where I share my processes for business planning, site design for efficiency and productivity, and how I grow high-quality flowers for sale throughout the growing season.

This workshop gives new entrant growers - or those who are just starting to explore the possibility of flower farming - an opportunity to see how a small scale flower farm actually operates.

The morning session is focused on discussion about how to develop a business growing cut flowers, and I share both my experience and insights into the flower industry. We cover a number of topics including developing a market for sales, market demand, different types of customers and their requirements, scale and financial viability, managing work/life balance.

The afternoon session is spent on the flower field looking at all aspects of cut flower production; site set up, variety selection, crop maintenance, maximising profitability, cultivation techniques, cutting and conditioning and preparing flowers for sale, pricing stems. You’ll get to see the selection of varieties that we produce for sale and learn exactly how we go about generating the income required for the business to function.

Please note that this is not a ‘grow-your-own’ course, but a workshop dedicated to those who want to run a viable business growing and selling cut flowers.

If you are interested in turning your passion for flowers into a business, come and join us for a day on flower farm! It’s your chance to see how our operation works in practice, and to ask me all of the questions you may have about creating a livelihood growing and selling cut flowers.

COURSE DATES FOR 2026

SATURDAY 13TH JUNE 10.00AM - 4.00PM

SATURDAY 15TH AUGUST 10.00AM-4.00PM

INVESTMENT: £195.00 PER PERSON

Please note that I am unable to take attendees for this business workshop who live or work within 10 miles of the flower farm in Aylmerton.

1-2-1 consultationS

In addition to group workshops, I also offer a 1-2-1 consultation service for growers who have specific enquiries relating to their own businesses. Whether you are interested in business planning or variety selection or growing techniques, I can share my experience to help you make targeted decisions for your own flower growing operation.

I originally trained as a garden designer and I have over 20 years experience in site planning and design, project management and horticulture. Consultations were an essential part of my design work, and I’ve found that it’s a skill that’s equally transferable to flower farming!

I offer consultations via Zoom which can be arranged for a mutually convenient time either during the day or early evening to fit in with your schedule. Sessions run for 90 minutes and will be recorded and sent for you to review again at your leisure.

The cost of a consultation is £120. Sessions can be booked via the web shop; I will then contact you directly to send you a link for our meeting.

flower farming mentoring program

The Flower Farmer Mentoring Program is a mentorship scheme that takes place across one calendar year. It provides the most value for growers who are looking to develop an existing business rather than a complete beginner. With a timescale covering a whole growing season this allows for careful planning, development and analysis in order to move your flower farming business forwards.

The program runs over five 90-minute Zoom sessions spaced over a twelve month period starting and ending Nov/Dec, as well as additional support via WhatsApp. Whether you require guidance for business planning or crop cultivation techniques, we’ll identify and address the specific requirements for your flower farming business. The goal is to see a real progression in your aims for your business across the year, with mentorship providing support throughout the season.

Mentorship places will only be available on limited release in the autumn shortly before the program commencement date. The price for mentoring program is £495 for the year. Payment in instalments is available.

Please contact me directly if you would like to be added to the waitlist for the Mentoring Program. I only take on a very limited number of mentoring requests each year.