A mysterious floral artist has taken over the New York Botanical Garden

## Summary
Art & Design A mysterious floral artist has taken over the New York Botanical Garden March 18, 2026 10:00 AM ET By Jennifer Vanasco The floral designer known as Mr. New York Botanical Garden hide caption toggle caption New York Botanical Garden "My favorite flower — a lot of people don't know this — is a carnation," Mr. New York Botanical Garden hide caption toggle caption New York Botanical Garden "It's a beautiful way to introduce myself authentically. The New York Botanical Garden hide caption toggle caption The New York Botanical Garden He's proud of the show, he said, grateful for his career, honored that he's been able to work with wonderful people. "I'm about celebrating moments, and flowers help me to do that, right?

## Article Content
Art & Design
A mysterious floral artist has taken over the New York Botanical Garden
March 18, 2026
10:00 AM ET
By
Jennifer Vanasco
The floral designer known as Mr. Flower Fantastic wears a gas mask and gloves because he's allergic to flowers.
New York Botanical Garden
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New York Botanical Garden
Mr. Flower Fantastic has worked with some big names and brands: Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Netflix.
Recently, when the Chicago Bulls retired point guard Derrick Rose's jersey number, Mr. Flower Fantastic covered an outdoor basketball court in a portrait made of roses and carnations.
"It took thousands of flowers to pull this off
—
in the middle of winter. In Chicago," the artist said, laughing. "It was really special."
Hundreds of people
lined up in the cold to see it.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Flower Fantastic (@mrflowerfantastic)
The floral artist
—
who says he often goes by "MFF" or "Flower"
—
stays anonymous because he wants the focus to be on his work. Usually when he's out in public, he wears a gas mask and gloves, which both hide his identity and protect his health (ironically, he's allergic to flowers).
But today, showing a reporter around the New York Botanical Garden's conservatory to see his new show, there's no mask — no gloves — just a warm handshake and a warmer smile.
He's a lifelong New Yorker, so when the botanical garden approached him about collaborating on their
annual orchid show
, he saw it as an opportunity to peek out from behind his secret identity and invite the public to view the city the way he does, finding beauty in the ordinary, everyday structures we often take for granted.
What kind of structures? Well
—
take the maligned dumpster. Here in the many-roomed garden conservatory, it's painted matte black and bursting with white moth orchids and English ivy.
This dumpster is filled, not with trash, but with white moth orchids and English ivy.
Jennifer Vanasco/NPR
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Jennifer Vanasco/NPR
Or the manhole cover, framed with gentle arcs of purple and yellow moth orchids, yellow slipper orchids and pink and white Dancing Lady orchids.
This manhole cover is surrounded by many different kinds of orchids.
Jennifer Vanasco/NPR
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Jennifer Vanasco/NPR
And, more spectacularly, the car wash, which here has a taxi driving through that's made of synthetic and real carnations.
Mr. Flower Fantastic's installations pull from his childhood growing up in New York City — like this car wash. The taxi is made of both real and synthetic carnations.
New York Botanical Garden
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New York Botanical Garden
"My favorite flower
—
a lot of people don't know this
—
is a carnation," Mr. Flower Fantastic said. "Oftentimes, it gets overlooked. It's quite common, but it's capable of extraordinary things with a bit of creativity."
In his mother's garden
Mr. Flower Fantastic says he learned to love flowers at his mother's side in her garden in Jamaica, Queens, and during their visits to the more tropical country of Jamaica, where they have family.
"
She's the one that shared the gift of gardening with me. We did have a garden in our yard and it was beautiful. Not only was the garden beautiful, but just the time spent together was beautiful and important and nurturing, all of those things that go into creating a garden. Time, patience, love, care. Those were values that were put into me at an early age through her."
His mother comes to see the show every day, he said.
This re-creation of a laundromat uses the washing machines as terrariums.
New York Botanical Garden
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New York Botanical Garden
From graffiti to gardens
Mr. Flower Fantastic is a former graffiti artist
—
one of his tags is re-created in the show, in flowers. When he first started working with flowers, he'd sometimes leave his designs on the streets, as gifts for others, leaving clues to their location for his followers on
Instagram
.
He said he never meant for them to be part of his professional work. The garden was a place for family, for calm, for peace.
Mr. Flower Fantastic started as a graffiti artist — this is a re-creation of his tag.
New York Botanical Garden
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New York Botanical Garden
But as he got older, he said, "You start to think about what you're doing with the time that you have. And, you know, for many people that have kids, that's amazing because that's proof that you existed. But for some people who don't
—
what other good can they put into the world? This is my way of kind of saying that I was here."
In 2018, Serena Williams' agent reached out to him to ask if he would create a large-scale sneaker in flowers to celebrate the launch of her Nike "Queen" Air Max 97. He collaborated with fashion designer Virgil Abloh, which informed the way he approached his art, he said.
"He would do a deep dive on everything and anything, really moving t

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Not only was the garden beautiful, but just the time spent together was beautiful and important and nurturing, all of those things that go into creating a garden.

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- When people come to this show, they are coming through a portal, a time capsule, if you will.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers garden, york, botanical topics. Notable strengths include discussion of garden. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1376.