Written by Rona Wheeldon
July 01, 2015
What an incredible British Flowers Week we had this year! Thank you so much to everyone for taking part. And this month, there’s still an abundance of homegrown blooms at New Covent Garden Flower Market.
How beautiful are these English delphiniums in shades of purple and blue at Pratley? If you’ve not already seen it before, check out this stunning bridal train created using delphiniums by Rebel Rebel for British Flowers Week 2013.
Read on to discover what else you can expect to find flowers, foliage, plants and sundries wise at Nine Elms in July…
British Flowers
Boxes upon boxes of pinks can be found at Pratley. And like their cousin, the carnation, they’re wonderful for adding texture to designs.
Pratley also have lofty Eremurus (foxtail lily), which is great to use to add height to arrangements.
Plus for adding a splash of green to bouquets, they’ve got poppy seed heads.
Over at Zest Flowers’ British Flowers Corner, you’ll find green roses…perfect for the ‘just picked from the garden’ look.
Or to add a touch of zingyness to a design, how about these vibrant yellow Inula?
Making a star appearance in Hattie from That Flower Shop’s bouquet design for this year’s British Flowers Week were ox-eye daisies and you can find them at Zest Flowers.
World Flowers
There’s still a great range of peonies at the Market, including this pure white variety called ‘Bridal Gown’…ideal for a wedding bouquet. They’re available at S Robert Allen.
Staying with the wedding theme, there’s Blushing Bride at Dennis Edwards Flowers.
Blue/purple blooms are very much in evidence at the Market this month! If it’s a prickly texture you’re after, how about this Echinops ‘Blue Globe’?
And continuing the spiky texture theme is this Eryngium Donard.
Have you seen these flowers before? Available at Alagar, they’re called Leucocoryne Andes.
Cynara scolymus (globe artichokes) can be found at S Robert Allen. You could place the individual flower heads down the centre of a table or group stems in a vase to give impact.
They also have this dainty Scabiosa caucasica 'Staefa'. It’s a fabulous bloom to include in summer wedding designs with a pastel colour palette.
And rounding up the blue/purple hues is Campanula glomerata 'Caroline' at Dennis Edwards Flowers.
Asclepias incarnata, referred to as pink asclepias at DG Wholesale Flowers, would look fabulous as a filler flower in a hand-tied bouquet gift for a baby girl.
As would this variety of hydrangea, which is called Magical Opal Classic. You’ll find such a huge range of this popular bloom at the Market this month. And if you missed it first time round, here’s a Product Profile Report on hydrangeas, which you may like to read.
Ideal for arrangements with a English country garden feel is this Sanguisorba officinalis at Bloomfield.
Or how about this Monarda, with vivid red petals, at Alagar?
British Plants
These Coleus plants at L Mills, with their brilliantly coloured leaves, would really make a statement as a houseplant.
Or if you’re looking for orange blooms for a window box, check out their marigolds. They’re not only available in orange though. You’ll also find them in yellow! Bob tells me you simply need to ask for ‘orange golds’ or ‘yellow golds’…he’ll know exactly what you mean!
World Plants
Other great plants to use for outdoors, for example, to brighten up a patio or roof terrace are these white upright geraniums at Evergreen Exterior Services…
…who also have these striking Agapanthus ‘Bluety’ plants.
Potted Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Rosa’ plants, which are ideal to gift-wrap for teachers’ presents at the end of term, are available at Quality Plants.
And how stunning are these Paul’s Scarlet roses that they also have?
Available in a range of colours, including magenta, are Streptocarpus at Arnott & Mason.
British Foliage
Dressed very appropriately for the warm summer temperatures (wearing shorts, of course!) is Barry at Porters Foliage.
As well as a fabulous selection of foliage from around the globe, they also have British cotoneaster…
…and chocolate mint, which has the most amazing scent!
Over at GB Foliage, you’ll find oak in abundance….
…together with dock, which is great for adding another dimension to all foliage designs.
World Foliage
Admittedly, it may seem that autumn’s come a little early, but there’s thornless blackberry from Italy at Porters Foliage.
And a great foliage to use for cascading or shower bouquets is this asparagus.
Sundries
With the single stem trend still in full swing, there are bottle vases in three different colourways at C Best. Choose from ‘silver antik’…
…’clear frost’…
…or ‘black frost’.
So, that’s this month’s round-up. Yet again, this report only gives you a very small snapshot of what you can find at New Covent Garden Flower Market. For example, as well as the British flowers shown, there are also sweet peas, peonies, stocks, sweet william, alliums, alchemilla mollis, cornflowers, astilbe and garden roses! So, do visit soon, to see for yourself.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this July 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.
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