New Covent Garden - The Early Bird Catches the Glittery Twig

My day started at 2:30 am when I was rudely awakened by my alarm clock in order to head to college to meet up with my floristry group for the 4:15 coach to London. Our destination was New Covent Garden Flower Market (NCGFM) in Vauxhall.

NCGFM has 18 flower wholesalers stocking British and foreign flowers, 2 foliage wholesalers stocking seasonal foliage from Britain and mainland Europe and foliage from South America, Australasia and Africa. There are also plants and sundries available.

Today was a special college day which included an insight into buying from the wholesalers, an overview of the market, floristry demonstrations and of course, shopping!

I  couldn't resist the glittery twigs!

It was great to see so many flowers and foliages and get an idea of what is available. The materials and the demonstrations gave me lots of ideas for future arrangements. I also learnt how to go about buying wholesale and that the flowers are sold in wraps (bunches of 10, 20, 25 or 50 stems) and boxes. Interestingly, Dutch flowers are sold in buckets of water and British flowers are sold dry in boxes.

Anthuriums

Below are some photo highlights of my morning at NCGFM.

Ornamental cabbages

Marquee roses

Festive wax and glitter-covered apples

Gourds

Grape hyacinths

Shiny shells

Ranunculas

A selection of red flowers

Wholesaler's stall

Tropical foliage

After all that floral excitement, it's early to bed for me ;)