New Covent Garden Flower Market before sunrise

What it is

London's flower trade moved out of the old Covent Garden piazza in 1974 to Nine Elms, south of the Thames near Vauxhall. The wholesale Flower Market there supplies a large share of the capital's florists, hotels and event designers. Inside is a single hall of trade stands: boxes of Dutch and British cut flowers, a foliage section that smells of eucalyptus and pine, pot plants, and sundries such as ribbon, wire and vases. Business starts in the night and is mostly done by early morning. Members of the public are allowed in, but stems are sold in wraps and boxes, not singly.

Before you go

• Go very early. By mid morning many stands are packing up.
• Prices are shown before tax and in trade quantities. Ask before you assume.
• Florists are working against the clock. Keep out of the way of trolleys.

The flowers you will see

RoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursPeonyLarge spring flowers in pink, red, white, yellow and purple, grown in gardens worldwideEucalyptusThe tall, aromatic trees and shrubs known as gum trees or eucalyptsDelphiniumTall garden flowers with spurred blooms in blue, purple, pink, and white

Also part of it, and being written: Ranunculus asiaticus.

More in London

🇬🇧 London · All yearColumbia Road flower market on a SundayOne short East End street, packed every Sunday with plant and cut flower stalls and the calls of the traders. 🇬🇧 London · All yearA day at the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewOne of the world's great botanic gardens, with Victorian glasshouses, a huge tree collection and flowers in every month. 🇬🇧 London · All yearA floristry class at a London flower schoolA half day or full day learning to build a hand-tied bouquet with seasonal stems at one of London's flower schools. 🇬🇧 Berkhamsted · Apr to MayBluebell woods on the Ashridge EstateOld beech and oak woods in the Chiltern Hills where native bluebells cover the ground for a few weeks in spring. 🇬🇧 Woking · Mar to OctRHS Garden Wisley through the seasonsThe Royal Horticultural Society's main garden in Surrey, where plants are tested, compared and shown at their best. 🇬🇧 Cranbrook · Apr to SepThe garden rooms of SissinghurstA Kent garden of hedged rooms made by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, known above all for its White Garden.