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NYBG ‘Orchid Show, Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle’ Part One
Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle
A Love Letter to New York in Stunning Orchids until April 26, 2026
The metaphor for New York City as a “concrete jungle” has been used in the past, sometimes with negative connotations that implied ugly buildings, few green spaces, tall skyscrapers stealing light and air, and danger lurking around every corner.
But that conception of the city has long gone with the disappearance of the rotary phone. Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind “Concrete Jungle” blew it up forever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPggPjkoCjE) as did her autobiographical Broadway show Hell’s Kitchen.
Embodying Key’s song’s beauty and excitement, world-renown, in-demand, floral artist, Mr. Flower Fantastic, presents his view of the city in floral pageantry at NYBG. The show is his love letter to New York with captivating cityscapes punctuated with gorgeous, vibrant, many-hued orchids amidst design sculptures and supporting botanical arrangements that highlight familiar objects and places. The ebullient, fun displays present aspects of city life that all city dwellers take for granted and tourists may completely overlook.
In the Palms of the World Gallery, Mr. Flower Fantastic designs moth orchids flowing over and around the iconic townhouse found throughout each of the boroughs of the city.
Who is the show’s creator?
Mr. Flower Fantastic or MFF is one of the most in-demand floral artists in the world, known for transforming flowers into bold, sculptural pieces. Oftentimes, these meld art, fashion, and pop culture. As art comes in a variety of forms, Mr. Flower Fantastic has selected flowers as his medium. This selection carries an irony. Mr. Flower Fantastic is allergic to flowers. In response to this consequence, he embraces his allergies and turns this weakness into his brand strength.
Though his “fantastic” choice of his name and brand is outsized and attention grabbing, yet he is anonymous. You won’t be able to imprint him with facial recognition software because he wears a mask (respirator) and gloves reconciling his allergies with his passion for flowers instilled in him when he was a child. The respirator and gloves embody his style and charisma and allow him to focus on the floral medium as his message with anonymity. The unknown known is his identity.
The creator and NYBG staff selected a variety of showy blooms to cheer us through one of the colder winters in memory. His reiminaging is a lovely meld of “concrete” and green jungle to uplift us and make us smile for its cleverness and whimsy.
Stay tuned for PART II of my CONTINUED COVERAGE of the fantastic NYBG The Orchid Show Mr Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle. In the meantime, check out the programming being offered connected to the show including dates for Orchid Evenings on the NYBG website. https://www.nybg.org/event/the-orchid-show-mr-flower-fantastics-concrete-jungle/
Also, if you would like to check out MFF’s website to look at previous shows and/or items for sale, check this website: https://www.mffstudio.com/
Schedule your plans for a number of visits to the The Orchid Show, Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle. There is a lot to see that couldn’t be covered in just one post, thanks to the ingenuity of NYBG staff and MFF. The show ends April 26, 2026.
New York Botanical Garden, ‘The Orchid Show: Natural Heritage’
Now in its 20th year and back in full swing after the COVID 19 pandemic, NYBG is bringing an exceptional presentation for this year’s Orchid Show entitled The Orchid Show: Natural Heritage.
For the 20th annual orchid extravaganza, landscape Artist Lily Kwong exhibits her immersive and dynamic designs. Throughout the exhibit Lily Kwong highlights her Chinese heritage by exploring the physical and psychic healing power of orchids. The exhibit is running from February 18 through April 23, 2023 in the NYBG Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
Guest designer Kwong is featuring beguiling installations of thousands of orchids in the hope of recapturing our ancestral veneration of the land which previous generations often worked to produce food, environmental beauty and health. Lily Kwong’s designs touch the imagination and spirit with ethereal, peaceful landscapes inspired by ancient Chinese garden design and artistic principles and philosophical perspectives.
Understanding the diversity, adaptability and global cultural significance of orchids, Ms. Kwong was inspired to fashion spaces throughout the Garden based on classic paintings of Chinese mountainscapes. The Palms of the World and Reflecting Pool Gallery in the main entrance of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and the showcase theater gallery in the interior of the conservatory feature such mountainscapes festooned with orchids and other plantings.
The paintings that influenced Lily Kwong were passed down through her family from Shanghai. The effects created with stones, water features and companion plantings throughout the conservatory display all the variety of orchids imaginable including iconic and popular moth orchids as well as rare specimens.
The mountainscape designs meld ecology, culture, myth and spiritual solace that was present in Kwong’s heritage. The orchids also are representative in Chinese medicinal traditions and are used extensively for herbal teas and remedies. Kwong’s belief and interpretations of nature in the designs reinforce nature’s healing powers and encourage visitors to understand how the natural environment is crucial to our well being and soul’s equilibrium.
Kwong collaborated with NYBG horticulturalists and Exhibitions staff to identify and assemble a gorgeous selection of orchids that are native to Asian countries. The displays are visually dramatic and striking. Also, they are emotionally evocative, inspiring visitors toward inner reflection and serenity in a remembrance that nature’s rhythms and harmonies impact our own survival on this planet.
Kwong is the first woman of color to take on the role of NYBG guest designer of the Orchid Show. She felt an urgency to “celebrate an Asian-centered perspective in the midst of this charged and precarious moment.” Her intention with the entire exhibit is to “offer a bridge of cultural understanding across the valley between us, and act as an invitation to celebrate the diverse lineages that make up our country.”
Kwong’s vision for the exhibit dovetails with the NYBG’s mission. Jennifer Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer and The William C. Steere Sr. President of The New York Botanical Garden stated, “One of our major goals here at this beloved green space in the Bronx is to inspire visitors and learners of all ages to appreciate, respect and care for nature.”
It is no surprise that the annual Orchid Show is one of the most popular of exhibits at the Garden. Jennifer Bernstein highlighted that the orchid exhibition provides an opportunity to feature the most diverse and celebrated of “our unparalleled living plant collections” so that the Garden may “educate the public about NYBG’s plant research and conservation work.”
To be able to share the love of orchids and plants with Kwong (she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University’s Urban Studies program and participated in the Landscape Design program at NYBG-2017) in a collaboration which enhances the Garden’s mission was a pleasure for all who worked on the exhibit.
This was especially so for Kwong, a Los Angeles-based artist who employs her varied talents and knowledge of horticulture, urban design, contemporary art, climate awareness, urban agriculture and wellness to reconnect people with nature through transformative landscape projects and site-specific botanical art installations.
Kwong’s career is particularly well placed for her goal to reconnect people with nature through her artfully designed botanical theater. She has been part of numerous public art initiatives since she began in 2017. These include botanical installations at The Highline, New York; Faena Arts, Miami; Grand Central Terminal, New York; Taipei Night Market, Taiwan; Bal Harbor Shops, Florida to name a few.
As a result accolades have come her way: ARCHMARATHON & Dezeen Awards in 2020 for Glossier Seattle and the World Spa Awards for Shou Sugi Ban House in East Hampton, New York. Kwong was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 (Art & Style) list in 2018. She has been selected to speak at MOCA, The Aspen Ideas Festival, The World Youth Forum, Design Miami and NeueHouse.
When you are sauntering through the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory enjoying Kwong’s fabulous designs, also meditate on the importance of this incredible gift to New Yorkers that the Garden brings as a special haven and sanctuary to decompress and relax into nature’s wonders through every season. The Garden comprises a 250-acre landscape which includes a 50-acre, old-growth forest through which the Bronx River and waterfall meanders. It is breathtaking year-round.
And don’t forget to visit the Garden library at the far entrance, the most important botanical and horticultural library in the world. The LuEsther T. Mertz Library houses 11 million archival items spanning ten centuries and forming a historical record of plant species and extinction.
Most importantly, know that the Garden is dedicated to conservation as well as research. It and takes in and restores plants which have been pirated as rare and exotic species for sale, sometimes worth thousands of dollars. The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium (the largest in the Western Hemisphere with 7.8 million plant and fungal specimens), is home to scientists. These work on-site in various cutting-edge molecular labs and in areas worldwide where biodiversity is most at risk.
Reminders! On select evenings during The Orchid Show: Natural Heritage, adults 21 and over can enjoy the exhibition’s “Orchid Nights,” with music cash bars and food available for purchase. To learn more about The Orchid Show go to the NYBG website for tickets and other information about NYBG. https://www.nybg.org/
CAROLE DI TOSTI 