About your flowers & farmer-florist
Grown in Michigan.
I work with seasonal, locally-grown flowers that are difficult to source elsewhere. The vast majority of flowers I grow myself in a small converted side lot in Hazel Park. I like to grow unique hues and varieties of cut flowers and will procure seeds, tubers, bulbs, and other materials from small-scale farmers across the United States. I enjoy supporting other local growers by getting their flowers for larger events and projects. I only work with plant materials that haven't been treated with synthetic chemicals (in either pre- or post- harvest), so that flowers are safe for up-close enjoyment.
The Garden as a muse.
The tension between that which is cultivated and that which is wild serves as the primary inspiration for my designs — nothing influences my aesthetic more than the Garden itself.
By nature, a farmer or gardener seeks to assert control and order over the natural world, and my day-to-day life is a constant exploration of that push-and-pull. Everyday is an exercise in adaptation and every moment spent in the soil is a lesson in letting go of the things I can’t control. Embracing the wildness and randomness of Nature is something I mirror in my personal life.
My roots.
I am blessed to have four grandparents who had/have a deep connection to plants and the natural world. As diasporic Koreans, they kept ties to the motherland by growing fruits and vegetables: perilla, hot peppers, summer squash, cucumbers, Korean pears. All four are/were fervent growers and foragers, able to spot purslane in a blinding field of green or turn tannic acorns into the most delicious jelly. My maternal grandmother’s family, for example, are leek and green onion farmers in Korea, to this day, so I like to think that there’s an ancestral influence on my farmer-florist life.
What I care about.
What’s important to me are regenerative growing practices, supporting local businesses and growers, and breaking away from industrial agricultural systems. Current special interests include Korean Natural Farming, , testing the limits of crop spacing, and creating an ecosystem in my growing space that welcomes all living critters (i.e., even the annoying ones). I strive to minimize my impact on our planet and believe that communing with plants and relishing in the bounty of our earth are powerful gateways to numerous higher causes.
Send support from afar
Help me realize some of my big goals for the year: to breed new varieties of zinnias and dahlias; to open a store for tubers, bulbs, and ceramic wares; to double my growing space by removing three trees; to buy my first pottery wheel.