Tucked away off the streets of Anguk-dong sits a beautiful hanok, a traditional Korean house, filled with fresh flowers of many different shades. Among the pretty bouquets are pink tulip Dreaming Maids, purple sweet peas, violet roses, white cherry blossoms and mauve scabiosas.

Spring certainly has arrived at florist Lee Joo-hee’s atelier Iena, opened three years ago. Unlike most flower shops in Seoul, Iena does not have a floral fridge. They are displayed rather naturally in one of the rooms of the graceful hanok, blending well with the wooden house and its cozy garden.

“It has to do with what hanok offers,” says Lee. “The house is built with wood and dirt. It offers the ideal humidity and ventilation system for flowers. They definitely survive longer here.”

Iena offers flower arranging classes for those interested in floral design as a hobby or even a career. Taking the class is certainly a nice way to start the day, in Lee’s hanok with fresh flowers dazzling in the gentle morning light. Many of her students are professionals in their 30s, while some are graduate students and housewives.

Lee, who majored in English literature in college, started thinking about being a florist after taking a baking class. “One of the things I got to do in that class was to decorate a cake with real flowers,” Lee says. “That was the moment when I decided I really had to learn floristry. I had always been interested in visual art throughout high school; arranging flowers depending on their shapes and colors was really similar to creating a piece of art.”

Kim Ji-yeon, one of the students at Iena, uses the term “healing” to describe her experience here. “Flowers can really make a difference in your mood. Just looking at them is actually huge,” the graduate student says. The soon-to-be-bride learned candle craft and card making before turning to flower design. 

As economic woes continue to grip the nation, the word “healing” has become a catch-all term to describe one’s process of recovering from the harshness of everyday competition and reality.

Last year’s best-selling books at Kyobo Bookstore ― Korea’s largest book retailer ― were such “healing,” self-help books, including Ven. Hyemin’s essay “Things You Can See When You Pause,” and professor Kim Ran-do’s comforting text “Youth, Painful Splendor.” The Templestay programs, in which participants can lead the reflective life of a Buddhist monk at an isolated temple in the mountains, have also been enjoying growing popularity.

Participating in Lee’s flower arrangement class, it feels as if floristry tastefully combines what Templestay and the self-help books try to offer. It requires appreciation of nature, sensitivity to colors and shades, as well as a high level of concentration. French novelist Jean Giraudoux called flowers “the poetry of reproduction”; their short lives naturally make one think about other basic elements of nature ― water, earth and sunlight ― and how they work together to create such temporary beauty.

“People appreciate flowers because they know they don’t last long,” says Lee. “We wouldn’t notice them as much if they were around us all the time. I still hear people saying, ‘it’s a waste of money to buy flowers because they die anyway.’ But it is their living energy that really makes a difference in anyone’s home.”

Flower arrangement classes are also an opportunity for a second career path for many. Southern Seoul-based florist shop Inspired by Jojo is famous for its intensive programs specifically targeting aspiring florists. “Many of our students are working professionals who are taking our classes as their ‘plan B,’” says Jo Eun-Young, flower art designer and director of the shop.

“Many of our students get a job as a florist or open their own shops once they complete the courses. One of our students is an interior designer who wants to expand her knowledge by combining flower arrangement and design. Even those who take the classes as a hobby are delighted to make bouquets and give them as presents at weddings of their friends.”

Meanwhile, one can enjoy an intimate atmosphere in the small classes at Salon de Flore, a little shop run by florist Park Sa-im in Gye-dong, central Seoul. “Our classes are very small; we get two to three students for each,” says Park, whose students comprise designers, graduate students, and employees of Hyundai Engineering and Construction whose building is nearby. “A lot of the students come to make friends, on top of learning about flower arrangement. It’s like little social gatherings with nice flowers on the table.“

For those who are interested in making ornaments with dried flowers, florist Seo Hee-jeong’s Botte Flower in Anguk-dong is worth checking out. The shop offers one-on-one lessons on dried flower arrangements and is also noted for its vintage vase collections. “We also teach flower arrangements and ways to decorate homes with living flowers,” said Nam So-ra, Seo’s assistant at the shop.

Florist Lee, who speaks fluent English, also offers her classes in English at Iena. For more information, call (02) 720-7855 or visit www.iena-style.com.

For Inspired by Jojo, visit www.inspired-byjojo.com. Salon de Flore can be reached at (02) 745-5344 and Botte Flower at (070) 4125-8934.


Easy flower arrangements

•Buy a bundle of flowers of the same kind and color ― for example, a bundle of pink tulips ― and place them together in a clear vase. This is a classic and cannot go wrong.

•Mix flowers of different kinds but of the same colors ― such as yellow roses and yellow carnations ― and put them together in a vase.

•Mix flowers of the same color but different shades. For example, light pink roses with dark pink Ranunculus create a color gradient.

Some of the best spring flowers

•Tulips

•Anemone

•Narcissus

•Ranunculus

•Hyacinth

•Cherry blossoms

How to make your flowers last longer at home

•Place flowers in water as soon as possible and clean the vase before putting them in.

•Change the vase water every day to keep them fresh.

•Cut the stems at a 45-degree angle with sharp scissors every day.

•Keep them away from computers, TVs and direct sunlight, which generate heat and can cause flowers to dehydrate.

•Drop a copper coin in the vase; as an acidifier, the coin prevents the growth of bacteria in the water.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)