Columbia Road Market 47

Visiting Roy Emmins in his rooftop sculpture garden again this week in Whitechapel, I was inspired by his different varieties of Artemisia that thrive in these dry conditions, so this morning early I made my way through the deserted streets under an occluded pale sky to the market in search of some for myself. The market was peaceful before eight and I found two Artemisia at Lyndon’s stall, Powis Castle (left) which has fine silvery grey foliage and sweet peppery scent when crushed and Oriental Limelight (right) with exciting jagged variegated leaves. There was also this Pelargonium, Lady Plymouth (centre) with deeply veined scented leaves bordered in pale yellow, and I bought all three plants for a fiver. Such arcane poetry in these names. I trust those of you that love flowers will indulge this enthusiasm of mine for dramatically contrasted foliage, because, as you can see, I also found these wonderfully veined wine-red roses that will sit upon my desk to delight my eyes whilst writing next week’s stories for you.