I’ve never been so enveloped by the scent of flowers as when I was walking down and through the Flower District part of Downtown Los Angeles. It was a serendipitous accident that the place that my partner was taking me to, Poppy + Rose was located on Wall Street amongst all the flowers.
I was astounded that the air could be so perfumed and I instantly felt at ease and embraced by it. We decided to walk over from our hotel, partly because the walk didn’t seem too far and partly because it felt wasteful to grab an Uber for those couple of blocks. I was so thrilled with our decision and commitment to walk though. There were so many vendors on our way to that section of town from our hotel, vendors hawking all sorts of wares and it was all just so grounded in the roots of Los Angeles. It felt like a little piece of home to me, a child of immigrants that had spent a lot of time tagging along to her parents’ bartering and negotiating with wholesalers from one side of the country, Philadelphia, PA to the other in Los Angeles, CA. I basked in the banter among the sellers and the buyers, among families and friends, and just the general bustle of the city. Everything felt so alive around me and there was so much to see, hear, and smell.
Once we cleared those three or four blocks and crossed 8th Street, the mood just shifted immediately. The floral scents washed over me and it released every muscle that I hadn’t been aware I was tensing up. There’s something that’s absolutely therapeutic to me about the scent of flowers and greenery and I never realized the extent of it until that moment with my partner.
The first flower shop that we stepped into felt cool, refreshing, and that chilled flower smell lingered intensely in the air. I don’t think I’ve ever known such a level of peace as in that moment.
My first brief encounter with the Los Angeles Flower Market/District will certainly not be my last. I recommend just taking a moment and breathing in the scent, seeing all the beautiful flowers lovingly arranged, waiting to be brighten up so many different people’s days.
