Are LA's flower shops a little too vanilla for your taste? Enter Kim Swift and Andrew Stevens of We Came In Peace, the creative team behind the unique and immersive Persephone's Botanica, a botanical pop-up shop in Hollywood inspired by mythology, femininity and the occult.
Dubbed in honor of Greek mythology's queen of the underworld, the shop seeks to highlight (and sell) plant varieties not often found at local nurseries. The arrangements on display are beautifully eerie, and in some cases verge on aggressive—if you're into that sort of thing. Each specimen is planted in a well-curated selection of vessels, some crafted by local ceramicist Ben Medansky, some selected by NFS (Not For Sale, though, er, they are indeed for sale). In addition to potted plants, shoppers can also peruse a small selection of jewelry and sculptural objects for sale along with Compartes chocolate bars (maybe Persephone had a sweet tooth).
Even if you're not in the market for a high-end plant piece (prices start at $150 and reach $4,500 for the largest items), Persephone's is worth a visit for the visual trip alone. We Came in Peace has converted a blank canvas at Hollywood's Eastown complex into an immersive botanical wonderland—the railings are covered in moss and the plants repeat into oblivion with the help of strategically-placed mirrors—that feels worlds away from urban LA.
Persephone's will run daily from 10am to 8pm through February 15 at Eastown, 6201 Hollywood Boulevard #3016; enter on Argyle Avenue.
Photograph: Cole Kiburz
Photograph: Skip Hopkins
Photoraph: Cole Kiburz