A Native Plant Lover's Winter Respite at Lauren's Garden Service
- Jan 7
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 7
Kokedama class with Young Choe, an internationally acclaimed artist, in Ellicott City.
Young Choe is a local artist with a world wide reputation. Fortunately for us, she loves native plants! In early December, on a cold winter's afternoon, our small group was in for a treat. Young Choe led a class on kokedama at Lauren's Garden Service in Ellicott City, Maryland We each made a kokedama featuring a Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi). The good news is another workshop is scheduled for Saturday, January 31st!
Kokedama, ethereal moss balls serving as small planters, are an enchanting way to display house and outdoor plants. The Japanese art of kokedama goes back centuries. Some sources root its origins in practicality. It is said that Japanese farmers who could not afford ceramic pots used moss instead to wrap plants and hang them as a way of bringing nature indoors.
Young Choe explained kokedama, kusamono and so much more during a 2 hour class offered at Cultivate, part of Lauren's Garden Service. Her artistry with plants is sublime. Listening to her talk as she shares her incredible art through a series of photos is the perfect respite on a winter's afternoon. Young Choe has a degree in horticulture, a career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an innate love of native plants which show up again and again in her art. You will never look at the wild violet the same way again!
I am not going to say more to avoid spoiler alerts. If you are interested in gardening and native plants, I think you would thoroughly enjoy this class!
Lauren's Garden Service, if you don't know it, is a retail nursery, landscape design firm and nature inspired boutique 'Cultivate,' all at the same location in Ellicott City in central Maryland. Cultivate hosts periodic classes. You can register for the kokedama class on January 31st with Young Choe here. You can learn more about the work of Young Choe here.
Bringing nature indoors during this time of year is a good thing indeed!
Happy Gardening.
Thanks so much- how sweet! We’re a bunch of plant lovers over here at Lauren’s and Young puts on a fabulous, entertaining class. We’re so thrilled to have her! I’m glad you enjoyed your visit and thanks for sharing it with your group!!
What a beautiful way to display plants! It's lovely to see so much green at this time of year.
The photographs of her work at her website are stunning. What a beautiful art form. Definitely something I want to look more into, and i'm also sharing with an artist friend who has not (yet) been bitten by the gardening bug. I am hopeful this will inspire them to branch into living, plant art .
Thank you for sharing! January's class has sold out (probably thanks to your blog). But Young will definitely be back at Cultivate teaching Kokedama, Kusamono, and more!