Written by Rona Wheeldon
May 01, 2015
Peony season is well and truly here, with these blousy blooms making a very welcome appearance at New Covent Garden Flower Market! Whether you’re looking for white, pink, red or coral varieties, you’ll find them in sheer abundance.
Just how stunning are these ‘Coral Sunset’ peonies at D G Wholesale Flowers? Read on to find out what other treats you can expect to discover at the Market this month…
British Flowers
Boxes of bluebells (Scilla) can be found at Pratley.
You also find wraps of Apollo iris, with their rich yellow and pure white petals…
…gorgeous sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus)…
…plus homegrown ranunculus in a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours.
World Flowers
Back to peonies (Paeonia) and at D G Wholesale Flowers you’ll find this rose-pink variety called Monsieur Jules Elie. By the way, if you’re not already seen it, you may like to read this special Product Profile Report about peonies, which features readers’ comments regarding how to help them open.
How about including these pretty pink scabious (Scabiosa) in a bridal bouquet? Here’s a lovely design!
Have you come across this striking variety of hydrangea before? It’s called You & Me Inspire and you can find it at Alagar.
In last month’s report, you may remember that I featured Viburnum tinus plants? Well, this month, I came across cut Viburnum tinus at Bloomfield!
Scilla‘White City’ can be found at Dennis Edwards Flowers…
…where you’ll also find beautifully scented lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) in bunches and also with root balls. The bunches are only available for a limited period, but the wholesalers are able to order in root balls for you all year round. It’s such a fabulous flower for wedding designs, like bridal bouquets and buttonholes.
Quirky grevillea ‘Spiderman’ would provide an amazing texture to an arrangement.
However to add a more dainty look to a design, how about this Chaenomeles superba (flowering quince) with its delicate salmon pink petals?
And staying with the same hue, how stunning is this gorgeous gloriosa? It’s just a little bit different to the well-known cerise pink/red variety. It’s referred to as orange.
This Dichel ‘Red Princess’ is a very unusual flower, which you’ll find at Bloomfield
In the same family, they also have this variety called Dichel congestum.
If you’re looking for a tropical-looking flower for a themed event, how about these Leucospermum ‘High Gold’ at Alagar, which are also known as pincushions?
Or for something completely different, there’s this Echium webbii at Bloomfield!
White and blue muscari (grape hyacinths) are readily available at the Market. But have you seen this variety called ‘Marleen’ before, which is a very rich blue in colour?
British Plants
Pelargoniums are aplenty at Nine Elms this month and at Arnott & Mason, Freddie has a wonderful ‘Chocolate’ variety.
There are trolleys brimming full of senetti at L Mills…
…who also have these exquisite Auricula plants. I’m so looking forward to seeing the amazing Auricula theatre displays in the Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show later this month!
World Plants
Adding a brilliant burst of sunshine to Evergreen Exterior Services are these sunflower plants (Helianthus).
They also have marguerites, which are great potted up as gifts.
And perfect for window boxes, are Osteospermum.
Plaited salix, both short and tall, can be found at Quality Plants.
And if your customers are looking to add a touch of green lushness to their homes, there are Boston ferns (Nephrolepis) with their arching fronds at Arnott & Mason.
British Foliage
At Foliage Row, Porters Foliage and GB Foliage have white leaf (Sorbus). McQueens have used it beautifully in this installation with delphiniums.
Plus there’s Photinia...
…lilac (Syringa)…
…and birch.
David at GB Foliage says that we’re in a transitional phase at the moment foliage-wise and that privet and forsythia will be coming in soon.
Sundries
The Flower Store, which is part of Bloomfield have some on-trend wide-neck glass vases.
If it’s jugs you’re after though, do check out their selection, which includes these lovely simple white designs.
Or how about these pots in a range of lovely colourways?
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this month’s report and it’s given you lots of inspiration. This really is just a very small snapshot of some of the flowers, foliage, plants and sundries currently available at New Covent Garden Flower Market.
Flower-wise, there’s also British grown arum lilies, daffodils, tulips and anemones, plus lots more varieties of peonies, white forget-me-nots, stocks, nigella, molucella, campanula, aquilegia, and phlox, to name but a few….
As always, we’d love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions. Simply fill in the boxes below.
P.S. Good luck to all the florists and plants people involved in this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Chelsea in Bloom!
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