Written by Rona Wheeldon
October 02, 2015
With leaves starting to turn shades of orange, yellow and red, crisper mornings and the nights drawing in, the beautiful season of autumn is very much with us. And at New Covent Garden Flower Market this month, you can expect to find a plethora of berries, rose hips and malus.
Just how wonderful are these Chocolate cosmos at Bloomfield? With their velvet-like petals, they look stunning arranged simply on their own and would be perfect for an October bride’s wedding bouquet.
Read on to discover what else you can expect to see flowers, foliage, plants and sundries wise at Nine Elms this month. And look out for some fabulous finds for Halloween!
British Flowers
In the British Flowers Corner at Zest Flowers, Graeme and his team have a superb selection of homegrown roses, including Romantic Antike.
Whilst at Alagar, there are trolleys piled high with buckets of spectacular English dahlias. Bobby tells me that they’ll be available until the first frost. So, make sure that you make the most of them whilst they’re still around.
Over at Pratley, there are boxes upon boxes of deep pink nerines. They’re so wonderfully scented and this particular variety is called ‘Zeal Giant’.
They also have lilac Liatris.
World Flowers
Amazingly lofty Sanguisorba can be found at Dennis Edwards Flowers…
…where you’ll also find this Euphorbia fulgens ‘Kuttler Samtrot’.
There are lots of different varieties of rose hips at the Market this month, including ‘Pumpkin’…
…and ‘Fair Jewel’ at J H Hart Flowers.
Physalis (Chinese lantern), ideal for Halloween displays, is available in different stem lengths at Alagar.
And Leonotis leonurus, with tiers of orange flowers on its stems, can be found at Dennis Edwards Flowers.
You’ll find Malus (crab apples) aplenty.
And how charming are these dainty Helenium ‘Zonnedam’? They look fabulous in autumnal table arrangements, especially in terracotta pots.
Over at D G Wholesale Flowers ‘Kiev’ chrysanthemums are in abundance and they also have the Dark Kiev variety. If you missed it first time round, you may like to read this Product Profile Report all about this well-known bloom.
Have you spotted this Eucalyptus torelliana before? Great for rustic designs…
Intrically patterned scabious seed heads can be found at the Market.
Bloomfield have these fabulous ‘Silver Lace’ spray roses. Both the scabious seed heads and spray roses were used by florist Zita Elze at her stand at Brides The Show in London this month. You can see some photos here.
There’s also Tricyrtis (Toad Lily), with its pretty spotted orchid-like flowers.
And rounding up purple hues, you’ll find Brassica ‘Red Crane’ at D G Wholesale Flowers.
Yes, I know, it’s quite hard to believe, but beautifully scented Paper Whites have startedcoming in!
There are still lots and lots of different varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla available. But have you come across Hydrangea paniculata ‘Kyushu’ with its conical flowerheads?
And if it’s a touch of yellow you’re after, how about this Chasmanthe Duckitti with branched spikes of canary yellow flowers? It’s related to Crocosmia.
British Plants
At L Mills, there are Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' plants, which Bob describes as looking like coral. And I can certainly see where he’s coming from…
Another distinctive plant that he has is this barbed-wire plant, also known as Calocephalus brownii.
World Plants
Succulents continue to gain in popularity as houseplants, helped I’m sure in part by the fact that they’re relatively low maintenance. And I just adore the shape and soft texture of this Pachyphytum oviferum at Quality Plants! Upon further investigation, I’ve discovered that its common name is Sugar Almond plant, due to its plump leaves that resemble sugar almonds!
Another big trend houseplant wise is hanging plants. And I spotted these, which include Rhipsalis, at Arnott & Mason…
...together with Senecio rowleyanus (String of Pearls).
Super plants for a Halloween display are Sempervivum Spider Mix (aka Sempervivum arachnoideum) with their fine, white threads crisscrossing between their leaves' tips, like cobwebs. You can find them at Evergreen…
…where they also have mixed cabbages…
…and Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) plants.
British Foliage
Outside on Foliage Row, there are boxes brimming full of wheat (if you’re looking to create a harvest festival look)…
…bundles of lavender…
…and hops too!
Just in case you’re wondering why this month’s Flower Market Report is only featuring dried ‘foliage’…well it’s because shortly there’ll be a special Product Profile Report dedicated solely to autumn foliage.
Sundries
C.Best have come up trumps again with the perfect paraphernalia for Halloween displays. Pay them a visit for a great range of skeletons, bats and spiders…
…plus this unusual character, which Paul tells me is called ‘Skeleton with Victim’!!
Whilst Christmas wrapping paper is already appearing in supermarket aisles, festive decorations are starting to trickle in with trees and polar bears at Quality Plants. Do look out for a bumper Christmas Special here in November!
So, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this report and it’s given you lots of inspiration. As always, we’d love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions. Simply fill in the boxes below.
P.S. In twelve months time, the Flower Market will be moving to its new Interim Site, near the Main Entrance to New Covent Garden Market! Simply click here for more details.
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