Pretty Ironic

Trussed up, no place to go

So, how could a in-search-of-a-bright-spot-before-work visit to the LA Flower Mart go so wrong? I was sure that once surrounded by the colorful floral offerings there, I would receive a shot of calm serenity. Instead I felt, um, depressed … maybe it had something to do with having to learn/work with a new computer system at the office while on deadline … or maybe it was sights like the one above: row upon colorful row of gerbera daisies in bondage, waiting to be selected and sent on to an uncertain end, that did it. I wasn’t sure, but as my visit continued my mood only got worse. Prepare to be bummed out …

Whither anturium?

Poor anthurium … so far from the mountains and forests of South and Central America. Stuck here in plastic buckets, each pointing toward a way out, but to where? …

Oh, for a breeze!

Foliage in every texture and shade of green waits for a breeze not produced by a refrigeration unit or the rushing of floral designers and harried brides-to-be on the run …

Cloning experiment?

The result of mass succulent propagation, or the product of a sinister cloning plot? There’s something about row upon row of identical anythings that makes me uneasy …

Never need watering ... ever!

Making me queasier still is the sight of plastic succulents — reduced to sell! — jammed like cattle into a cart. And the bin of plastic potatoes … what possible positive use could they be put to?!

Open air viewing

Lying in state, shrouded in clear cellophane, these orchids seemed like fallen starlets. Dreams dashed forever, their only legacy will be their soon-t0-be-lost beauty …

Confronting gingerly

Exotic tropicals, dripping with attitude, seem to advance against their captors. Sadly, they’re no match for hard steel; doomed to fail, they can be wheeled away at a moments notice ..

Bromeliad uprising

Energetically straining against the bars of their holding cell, brightly dressed bromeliads seem to echo the very bars that hold them in. But, resistance is futile …

Turf assembly line

Stepford grass, anyone? I know, I know, this is probably wheat grass headed to an organic snack bar somewhere on the westside, but it’s still off-putting to see nature so constrained …

Ain't no sunshine ...

Natural jungles can sometimes be so dense that no sunlight penetrates. Here, it’s cinder block that’s providing the sun-block and necessitating the use of wan, pale fluorescents for light.

Steel and magnolias

Finally, delicate magnolias wait their turn on the block in dirt-smeared plastic pots. Their delicate beauty hopefully catching the eye of a kind stranger to take them away from all this … well, whatever this infernal, airless, natural light-deprived limbo is here at the Mart.

Having had just about enough, I stagger back outside into the sunlight … my only thought being “Gawd, I need a vacation!”