#Plantlove

I’m a typical office worker that has never really kept hands in dirt before. In December, I was craving for new experiences so I impulsively signed up for a 10-week floral internship at a store which I’ve been following on Instagram for a long time. As a result, I found out that prepping flowers is a sort of meditation, I got to know a lot about various plants, and also got a taste of having a floral business. Additionally, I fell in love with succulents and air plants, up-cycled garden planters and decorative fillers. Fillers are those green stems often used in bouquets: different kinds of eucalyptus, blueberries, coffee berries, and so on. I got a dozen of plants that made my home so much cozier.

Succulents on the left, and an air plant (tillandsia) in a sea shell on the right

The thing about NYC: just like you can have delicious strawberries for Christmas, the same time you can have fragrant peonies. No joke! And you can get so much more. From all corners of the world.

Brooklyn Sprout, probably the best store in the world

If you don’t know how to make arrangements you can sign up for an intensive course for $1,250.00 (ouch!) or this flower class for $299.You can also take some online classes. I highly recommend Skillshare (get 3 months for $0.99) and here’s my short list:

Modern Flowers: Arranging a Stunning Centerpiece | Michael + Darroch Putnam | Skillshare

Flower Arranging: Learn How to Arrange Like a Pro! | Denise Porcaro | Skillshare

Bouquet Making: Arrange Flowers Like an Artist | Kaylee Young | Skillshare

My floral internship is over so here are some pros and cons

Pros

• You’re not on your laptop for a few hours, instead, you are seeing different colors, you’re smelling flowers, you’re touching different surfaces. That’s life!
• You get to know people who are not in tech industry, like bartenders, therapists and those who are seriosly into flower arrangements and make $$$ bouquets for Sarah Jessica Parker.
• Next time your boyfriend gives you flowers you know how to keep them looking flawless longer and arrange them in a spiral like a pro.
• You can go further and get another internship at a rooftop farm (they prefer people with some decent previous experience).
• You know where to go if you need a bunch of flowers (to a 100-years-old flower market that works from 5:30 to 11:30 every morning!) or just a few stems (head to your local florist, individual flowers will be reasonably priced there).

• You suddenly realize that you can make nice flower arrangements (I even made my wedding bouquet and a boutonniere with succulents myself!).

Cons

• When you dine at some fancy Italian restaurant in Manhattan, you feel ashamed to see a dying tulip on your table because nobody took care of it (but with those prices for food they should change them daily anyway!).
• You still don’t understand why people mix roses with field flowers even if they look good together (such bouquets live a very short life, because roses do not like any neighbors).

I’m kidding, there are no real cons.

My tillandsia is blooming 😍 it’s an air plant native to the forests, mountains and deserts of Central and South America, the southern United States and the West Indies. These plants don’t need soil or sun, they are happy to live in your bathroom and enjoy your hot showers

For the final accord I’d like to share this quote:

Every plant we’ve ever nurtured, obsessed over, and tended with love will someday be gone. Maybe in a century, maybe in a decade, maybe in a year. That doesn’t make our connection to them any less meaningful. Perhaps it makes it more important.