Flower Sellers

Like the buskers, human statues, street performers and hawkers, the flower sellers are up there with the most photographed people on Grafton Street. The abundance of blooms at the bottoms of South Anne Street, Duke Street and Chatham Street add colour, life, and tradition to the city’s central shopping mecca.
The ladies huddle beside their mountain of blossoms, occasionally rising to advertise their wares in voices hoarse from cold.
The bouquets range from simple clusters of staid chrysanthemums or colourful Dutch tulips wrapped in white paper, to extravegant arrangements of red roses and lillies. My favourites are the huge, bright yellow sunflowers, their raised heads expressing a kind of floral pride.
The bouquets here may not be the fanciest in town, but they are certainly the cheapest. Buying from the flower sellers not only guarantees you fresh, beautiful blooms, but keeps up a Grafton Street tradition in times when department stores, the likes of Tommy Hilfiger, threaten to eclipse the essence of what the city once was.