Shopping

If the sight of a thousand varieties of exquisite flowers and exotic plants doesn’t excite you, then the cacophony of a dozen different east London and Essex accents calling out ‘Three for a fiver!’ will. Despite developing a reputation as a tourist trap in recent years, Columbia Road was bustling with bleary-eyed locals when we visited on a recent Sunday morning.

The flowers and plants are some of the best – and cheapest – around, and it’s a mean-hearted Londoner who doesn’t head home with their arms laden with a begonia or five. Columbia Road is also home to some of our favourite independent shops in London. Avoid the crowds by going first thing in the morning (from 8am). Otherwise, try your luck at the end of the day (from 2.30pm) when the stallholders madly reduce their prices. If you’re caught short among the pot plants, there are toilets on the corner of Ezra and Ravenscroft Streets. Feature continues

Columbia Road′s top stalls
Cut flower stall
For some of London’s best gladiolis (at the bargain price of three bunches for £5), look out for the orange stall umbrellas (just before you hit Ezra Street). There’s also a dazzling array of more unusual flowers, like pink and white snowberries for £5 a bunch (10 stems), and 50 stems of anemones for £10. Showy casablanca lilies are available all year (pick up an enormous bunch for £6), but right now we love the autumnal hydrangeas at £5 a bunch.

FJ Harnett and Son
If you’re after pot plants and bedding at good prices, stop at the very first stall on the left-hand side, just outside the Fleapit Café on Columbia Road. Stall owner Matthew Harnett grows all the plants himself in Essex. Throughout autumn and winter, keep an eye out for giant-headed pansies (£5 for 15), winter-flowering cyclamen (from £6 for six), heather (from £1 each) and silverleaf (£3 for a tray of six). The stall itself is one of the oldest at the market, having been passed down from father to son over three generations.

Vintage china and enamelware stall
Columbia Road isn’t just about the flowers. Seek out the small yard-market around the back of Ezra Street for more goodies and vintage bric-a-brac. Pick up some great ’50s enamelware in pretty pastels from £6 (we’ve seen similar pieces go for £16 in interiors shops), as well as vintage chocolate and toffee tins from £5.

Trader tips
Don’t miss…
Coffee from UK barista champion Gwilym Davies, who has a stall in the corner of the Ezra Street yard-market. The great independent shops alongside the stalls, such as Ryantown, Lapin & Me, Treacle and Bob & Blossom.

Things to avoid
Buying a small tree as soon as you arrive, as you’ll be stuck with branches in your face all morning.

Refuel at…
If you’re feeling peckish, head straight to the Ezra Street yard-market for bacon and egg rolls, otherwise consider the organic salmon and cream cheese bagels from nearby Jones Dairy Café. You can’t go wrong with a top-notch roast at the Royal Oak for a Sunday lunch.

Columbia Road Flower Market, Columbia Rd, E2 (http://columbiaroad.info). Old St tube. 8am-2pm Sun (except Christmas Day).