Written by Rona Wheeldon
November 01, 2015
With the overlapping of the seasons, you’ll not only find wonderful autumnal flowers and foliage at New Covent Garden Flower Market in November, but there are also subtle signs of a transition into winter with the appearance of ranunculus, narcissi, tulips and anemones.
Ranunculus are one of my very favourite flowers and I was thrilled to see so many different varieties already available, when I visited earlier this month. Read on to discover what else you can expect to find at Nine Elms…
British Flowers
Boxes of beautifully scented narcissi from the Isles of Scilly are available at Pratley. Not only this variety below, Innisidgen, which is a close relative to the well-known Soleil d’Or, but also Paper Whites.
And, in addition to homegrown lilies, chrysanthemums, irises and alstroemeria, you’ll also find these beautiful scabious in white and purple.
World Flowers
Anemones in an array of rich jewel colours, as well as pale blush pink, are making a very welcome reappearance.
And just how stunning is this Callicarpa bodinieri, with its clusters of tiny violet berries…
Have you seen Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' before? With its tall spikes of tubular lavender flowers, you’ll find it at S Robert Allen.
And how pretty is this Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Magical Revolution’ at Alagar? It’s got such dainty florets, which as they mature change in colour from pale blue to purple, then on to green.
Trevor at S Robert Allen says that there are so many fabulous different varieties of hydrangeas available at the moment! For example, look out for ‘Rodeo’ Classic and ‘Hilde Moorhof’ Classic.
If you’d like to learn more about hydrangeas, do take a read of our Product Profile Report.
Ever popular Bombastic (on the left) and Lady Bombastic (on the right) spray roses can be found in plentiful supply.
And always gaining lots and lots of likes on Instagram are David Austin roses, such as this ‘Caramel Antike’ variety, which you can find at Dennis Edwards Flowers. When posting your photos on this social media platform, make sure to include the hashtags #davidaustin and #davidaustinroses to help people find your images.
Wonderfully fragrant, as well as being a gorgeous shade of very pale pink, are these Nerine 'Albivetta' blooms
There are still plenty of dahlias available including this soft pink and white globe-shaped Pompon variety called 'Wizard of Oz' at Bloomfield. If you missed it first time round, do check out our Product Profile Report on dahlias.
Pale apricot Ilex verticillata 'Golden Verboom' can be found at Alagar. They also have the traditional red variety and a bright yellow one called ‘Citronella’.
As well as Hypercium ‘Coco Magnifico’ with its dark brown berries, there’s this Hypericum Mag Pink Giant, which has pale pink berries.
Looking to add textural interest to a design? How about this bi-coloured Hibiscus trionum at Zest Flowers?
With a similar, although smaller form, are these seed pods of Chasmanthe Saturnus (Cobra Lily) at Dennis Edwards Flowers.
These spectacular ‘Rococo’ parrot tulips at DG Wholesale Flowers with their red, purple and green petals are just one of the many early varieties of tulips, which are starting to trickle into the Market.
DG also have these striking Saffina chrysanthemums which would also be great to add texture to your autumn arrangements.
You can certainly understand the naming of this particular variety of Setaria italica. It’s called 'Big Mama'!
And I’ll finish off this section with this fluffy Pennisetum Paradise at Zest Flowers, which looks wonderful in hand-tied bouquets.
British Plants
Ideal for hanging baskets and window boxes are these homegrown trailing ivy plants at L Mills.
Or if you’re looking for a silvery-grey foliage, they have these Santolina chamaecyparissus plants, which during mid to late summer have small, yellow button-like flowers.
World Plants
Shelves upon shelves of cyclamen plants in an assortment of different colours and sizes can be found at the plant wholesalers at the Market.
Ideal to pot up as gifts are these adorable African Violet plants (Saintpaulia), which come in trays of mixed hues. They’re at Evergreen Exterior Services.
With their large showy blooms, Cattleya orchids are available at Quality Plants.
And azaleas are in abundance at Arnott & Mason.
British Foliage
Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb', also sometimes referred to as red pittosporum, is perfect for dark, moody floral designs. It can be found at GB Foliage…
…where they also have bundles upon bundles of English box (Buxus sempervirens).
Whilst over at Porters Foliage, berried ivy with black berries has started to come in.
World Foliage
Dogwood in green and red can be found at Foliage Row.
And for something, a little bit different, how about this juniper at Porters Foliage?
Popular for bridal bouquets is this Senecio cineraria ‘New Look’ with its large, velvety leaves. It’s sometimes referred to as Dusty Miller.
Sundries
The Flower Store, which is part of Bloomfield, always has such a fantastic selection of vases and pots. Have you seen these vases before? Check them out the next time you’re at the Market.
They also have these lovely light and dark grey textured bowls and pots.
So, as always, my monthly reports are only a very small snapshot of what you can expect to find at New Covent Garden Flower Market. For instance, this month there’s also skimmia, chili peppers, brassicas, euphorbia, majolica spray roses, pernettya, marigolds, gourds, maidenhair ferns, calamondin plants, big-leaved cotoneaster and eucalyptus pods…to name but a few!
I hope the report has given you lots of inspiration. We’d love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions. Simply fill in the boxes below.
P.S. Look out later this month for our bumper Christmas Special Report!
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