Elevating Your Space with Flowers

You can wear them in your hair, plant them in your garden, eat them or simply display them around your house. Odds are you probably have some relationship with flowers. Originally, I would use flowers to elevate the space around me. As our relationship deepened, I realized they have so much more to offer. Like wisdom from a good friend.Not only do flowers symbolize our roots and lineage, but they remind us of life, rebirth, growing and nurturing. With spring just beginning, we've set out on a mission to learn more about all things floral. Who better to reach out to than Lili Cuzor of Tigers to Lilies?Lili, who lives in Los Angeles, isn't just any florist. She's a floral artist. She blends textures and colors, adding in greens and foliage to mix things up. Wild and dreamy, her work is featured in select weddings, private homes, hotel art installations, and magazines like Vogue and Wilder Quarterly. Since poppies have been known to stop her in her tracks, she is definitely a girl after our own heart!Growing up in a small French city on the Loire River, Lili's young world included tons of plants, gardens, cows grazing in the nearby flower fields, and time spent outdoors. Living so close to nature became her greatest source of inspiration. Moving to LA, farther away from nature, she discovered that the flower industry is filled with some not so pretty practices."Most purchased flowers are sprayed with pesticides and fertilizers, some coming as far as Chile or Australia,” Lili says. “They are lifeless. While in contrast, picking flowers naturally forces you to pay attention to what you are taking from the earth and gives you a flower with vibrancy."Lili's vision is for the industry to follow the footsteps of the food movement by sourcing local, organic, in-season products. It’s important to support local gardeners and farmers who grow natural flowers versus purchasing from giant corporations.If you're looking to make the perfect arrangement, the first rule is to make your plants happy! Flowers were once a part of the earth, connected to us through the soil. To truly maximize our connection to them in shared spaces it is important to treat them with kindness. Lili talks to all 27 of her plants and also plays music for them.  Apparently, plants dig ambient sounds!"The flowers will do all the work if you let them,” she says.Lili shared more insight into arranging: "The answer lies in the actual materials themselves and your spirit when arranging. Be connected to yourself and what is going on inside of you in order to create an honest, outstanding arrangement.”Arranging offers us an opportunity to express ourselves creatively. What inspires us even more is how the presence of flowers themselves can transform any space. There is a magic to them. Lili agrees: “Simply put, flowers are perfection. They have an effortless eloquence and grandeur. A depth so great to them that is both part obtainable and part mysterious. You can pick one and hold it in your hands or put it in a glass of water and it can change the entire energy of a room, of your heart. You can save a petal by pressing it between the pages of a book to take it out years later and be flooded with a sentiment, a memory of a moment. They radiate a beauty so pure, don’t they? One that is so unapologetic that it attracts both humans and animals alike. They heal us, really. Making this a tolerable planet so that we can exist. Bring plants or flowers into your home and your space shifts energetically for the better. We have so much to learn from them.”Their vibrant colors and potent smells engage the senses and heighten our experiences instantaneously. From sourcing to arranging to playing them your favorite sounds, connecting with flowers brings out the best in us. As if we are blooming together.