Series: Masami Wake | Bathing Flowers: “Flowers are also bathing”

FLORALUXE

Bathing Flowers

As soon as September arrives, the air in New York transforms into a crisp coolness. It's as if it's waiting in anticipation for the autumn leaves.—After an unusually hot summer in Tokyo, I hope to feel the autumn in September.

Text and photos by Masami Wake

Flowers bloom beautifully, as if responding to care and affection.

Masami Wake | FLORALUXE | New York Style 02

At the FLORALUXE studio in Minami-Aoyama, flowers are arranged using a claw-foot bathtub as a vase. Strictly speaking, it's a process called 'water uptake' for flowers, but it's striking that in America, this is expressed as 'drink water.'

Flowers that have just arrived from the market have had a long journey, taking at least a few hours from their origin, or even tens of hours if air-freighted from Holland, Africa, or South America. To revive these tired flowers and keep them fresh, we gently remove excess leaves, trim the stems at an angle to facilitate water absorption. The more gently and lovingly we care for them, the more beautifully they bloom in response, as if returning our affection.

Watching drooping roses, for example, regain their posture after being submerged in deep water is truly dramatic. They seem less like plants and more like people.