Adderley Street flower sellers

What it is

Trafalgar Place is a short passage off Adderley Street in the centre of Cape Town. For well over a century it has been the pitch of the city's flower sellers, most of them from families who have traded here for generations. Buckets hold proteas, pincushions, ericas and other Cape flowers alongside roses, lilies, carnations and chrysanthemums. The sellers are known for quick wit and loud sales talk in the local mix of Afrikaans and English, and they are part of the city's folklore. It is small and can be seen in ten minutes, but it is one of the easiest places to buy cut fynbos.

Before you go

• Go in the morning, when the buckets are fullest.
• Chat with the sellers and ask which flowers are local and in season.
• Proteas last a long time in a vase and dry well.

The flowers you will see

ProteaLarge-headed South African flowers called sugarbushes, with many wild speciesLeucospermumEvergreen shrubs with bright, spiky flower heads called pincushionsRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursChrysanthemumAutumn-blooming flower with thousands of varieties, cherished in East Asia and beyond

Also part of it, and being written: Protea cynaroides.

More in Cape Town

🇿🇦 Cape Town · Aug to SepThe flower route from Cape Town to NieuwoudtvilleA spring road trip north from Cape Town through a chain of wildflower reserves. 🇿🇦 Cape Town · All yearKirstenbosch National Botanical GardenA garden of South African plants on the slopes of Table Mountain, at its best from late winter to spring. 🇿🇦 Cape Town · Aug to NovFynbos walks on the Cape Peninsula and at HermanusDay walks through the Cape floral kingdom, the smallest and one of the richest plant regions on earth. 🇿🇦 Springbok · Aug to SepNamaqualand daisy seasonA semi-desert in the north-west of South Africa that turns orange with daisies after winter rain. 🇿🇦 Pretoria · Oct to NovJacaranda season in PretoriaTens of thousands of street trees turn South Africa's capital purple each October. 🇿🇦 Plettenberg Bay · Aug to NovGarden Route coastal fynbos walksCoastal paths along South Africa's southern shore, through fynbos and old forest.