Reading · History with Hope

A townhouse stoop re-imagined, one of multiple large-scale floral installations by Mr. Flower Fantastic. This photo and others by Yours Truly.

Hiya History Lovers,

Last Saturday, the Hubs and I headed to the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for its 23rd annual Orchid Show. This year’s show is “Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle.” More on that in a moment, along with pretty pictures by Yours Truly, but first…

To celebrate the audio release of IRISH EYES, I’m giving away three copies on Spotify. To enter, sign up for this free History With Hope Substack before May 1st. Winners announced here and on my website. You’ll need a Spotify account (free version is fine) to redeem.

The New York Botanical Garden was founded in 1891 and spans 250 acres in Bronx Park. The property includes 50 themed gardens, several restaurants, the Mertz Library (the country’s largest botanical library), and the Haupt Conservatory where the annual orchid show is held.

Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle is much more than the “orchid show” we came expecting — think installation art where flowers, mainly orchids, are the medium. Immersive and breathtaking, clever and whimsical, the show is a love note to New York City and the Queens neighborhood where the creator, who styles himself Mr. Flower Fantastic, grew up.

MFF guards his anonymity (and allergies) with a goggled mask and gloves. As a child, he helped his mother garden. Over time, he taught himself floral design. His breakout moment came in 2018 when Serena Williams’ team invited him to create a large scale floral sculpture themed to her Nike “QUEEN” Air Max 97 to be unveiled at the U.S. Open. The rest, as they say, is history.

Even with advance tickets, we had to wait in line. Fortunately, it moved quickly. Within 25 minutes (quick indeed for a New York event), we were crossing the conservatory threshold, ready to be wowed.

And wowed we were. MFF’s Concrete Jungle exalts the quiet beauty to be found in humble, everyday urban spaces. A newsstand…

… pizza shop…

… laundromat…

… car wash …

… and a fire escape, which IRL green thumbed city dwellers transform into mini gardens.

In MFF’s Concrete Jungle, the boundaries between the man-made and natural worlds blur, delightfully so. Orchids and other flowers burst forth from dumpsters…

… wreath manhole covers and festoon fire hydrants.

Amid all the oohing and aahing, we also picked up interesting orchid facts. For starters, there are nearly 30,000 species of orchids, some of which look very orchid-like…

… and others of which took me by total surprise.

The exhibit also offers pro tips for growing and caring for orchids (humidity helps) and urban gardening in general.1

Going through MFF’s Concrete Jungle took us 40 minutes give or take. Given the volume of visitors, I’d worried we’d be herded through. I needn’t have. Once inside, you can perambulate at your leisure.

Throughout, I was deeply aware of the softening effect that being immersed in nature, even curated nature, has on us all. Voices dropped to a whisper. Steps slowed to a stroll. When cellphones did come out, it was to try and capture the beauty of the moment, not to doom scroll. And everyone, absolutely everyone, was smiling. It didn’t feel like being a visitor in a museum space.

It felt like being part of a community. Which is kind of what MFF’s message is all about.

MFF’s Concrete Jungle closes this Sunday, April 26th. If you have the chance to go see it, do! Program info and tickets here.