{"id":404,"date":"2018-03-16T21:14:46","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T21:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/?p=404"},"modified":"2018-03-16T21:23:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T21:23:51","slug":"fawning-over-flora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/2018\/03\/16\/fawning-over-flora\/","title":{"rendered":"Fawning over Flora"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n\nhttps:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/03\/Ksaidi_Fawning-over-flowers_Master.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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In the early hours of the morning, Ver\u00f3nica Guisa works hard at The Original Los Angeles Flower Market to supply Angelenos with natural beauty from Mexico and the rest of the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Between the Fashion District and the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles there is a group of nondescript buildings that open to reveal a world of color. Don’t be fooled by the garden-variety green canvas canopies and tan facade. Inside the market is a veritable garden of brilliant flora from all over the world. With 50 vendors selling everything from baby’s breath to hanging bromeliads – the air of the hangar-sized warehouse is dense with an intoxicatingly delightful aroma.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tuesday morning street view of The Original Los Angeles Flower Market where Dayro\u2019s Wholesale Flowers is located.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, \u201chere in the flower market we don’t perceive the smell of each flower because there are a lot of smells, and it smells like something humid,\u201d says Ver\u00f3nica Guisa who works at Flores Deos Co., part of <\/span>Dayro\u2019s Wholesale Flowers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guisa starts work at midnight. \u201cEvery day I have to come, take out the flowers, clean the flowers, buy flowers, [and] sell flowers,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The natural beauty and diversity inside contrast dramatically with the drab concrete just outside the massive metal roll-up doors. The stalls are lined with bunches of flowers, curated bouquets, plants, and terrariums of different shapes, sizes, colors, and origins. Each shop displays countless freshly cut flowers. The bunches, organized by color, spring out of giant plastic buckets of water. The vendors\u2019 offerings include <\/span>birds-of-paradise<\/span>, carnations, <\/span>Chrysanthemum<\/span>, daisies, Gladiolus, <\/span>Hydrangeas<\/span>, irises, lilies, orchids, peonies, roses, sunflowers, snapdragons, tulips, and a myriad of others you may have never seen or even heard of before. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToo many flowers I [have] never see in my life. Maybe tomorrow I\u2019m going to see another one,\u201d says Guisa who has worked in the market for five years, \u201cThere is always something new [with] the flowers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A blooming bromeliad display on Tuesday morning at The Original Los Angeles Flower Market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When most Angelenos are sleeping, the warehouse is bustling. Three nights a week the activity starts at midnight – carts of cherry blossoms clatter by, opening grates screech, shopkeepers chit chat while clipping stems and wrapping orders in newspaper, all to the low constant hum of walk-in coolers. If you look closer, past the brilliant petals and $4 clearance specials – you\u2019ll find that the people curating and caring for the flowers are just as international and inviting as their wares. <\/span><\/p>\n

Open to the public only during the day, the market isn\u2019t nearly as alluring late at night. The surrounding streets are mostly deserted, with only the occasional passer-by. This is the time 45-year-old Guisa arrives at her sister\u2019s family-run business, Dayro\u2019s Wholesale, ready to get to work. At least three days a week, she is among the earliest to open. Most vendors start setting up shop around two in the morning. That\u2019s when her first customer of the day has regularly arrived, with a smile, for more than two decades – almost as long as the company has been around. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have great product and they’re wonderful people,\u201d client Jim Skirvin says of Guisa and the other employees at Dayro\u2019s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Guisa, a lawyer, relocated from Guadalajara to Los Angeles a little more than five years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with lawyers for a long time – but even though I worked, it never connected me,\u201d she says. \u201cThe flowers always called to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ver\u00f3nica Guisa is one of the earliest to open up shop at midnight on Wednesday at Dayro\u2019s Wholesale Flowers in The Original Los Angeles Flower Market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A big delivery truck delivers thousands of flowers from Mexico every Monday. Other deliveries arrive from Ecuador, Holland, and Japan. <\/span><\/p>\n

Guisa says her sister\u2019s stall sells around ten thousand flowers every week. However, \u201cthere\u2019s always flowers left over at the end of the day,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause we have to open and sell flowers the next day no matter what.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ver\u00f3nica Guisa stands in the middle of Flores Deos Co., where she works after midnight, in The Original Los Angeles Flower Market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Guisa will work from Midnight to noon. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to find in flowers a way to see the positive side of things because right now the world is all upside-down. Flowers can help us with that, it’s like flora-therapy!\u201d She says with a laugh. \u201cInstead of drugs, buy flowers!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Audio recording help from sound engineer Jason Chamness.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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  In the early hours of the morning, Ver\u00f3nica Guisa works hard at The Original Los Angeles Flower Market to supply Angelenos with natural beauty from Mexico and the rest of the world. Between the Fashion District and the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles there is a group of nondescript buildings that open to reveal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usc2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}