On his way to the Kyiv train station to greet his wife and daughter , Oleksander Tryfonov made a stop.
He bought two red roses from one of a half-dozen flower shops lining a dimly lit underpass B次元官网网址� something beautiful for the two most precious people in his life.
B次元官网网址淚 havenB次元官网网址檛 seen them for two years,B次元官网网址� Tryfonov, a burly 45-year-old driver said of his family. B次元官网网址淔lowers are important for women.B次元官网网址�
Flowers have always been linked with UkraineB次元官网网址檚 culture, but , their significance has only grown, with blooms becoming a symbol of both resistance and hope.
Despite B次元官网网址� or perhaps because of them B次元官网网址� Ukrainians take every chance they can to fill Kyiv and other cities with flowers from the countryB次元官网网址檚 vast rural heartland, anxious to reconnect with and rediscover their roots.
Deep purple petunias and yellow rock roses burst out of planters that line KyivB次元官网网址檚 backroads and grand boulevards. Some are fixed to lampposts; flowers can even be spotted in .
They are depicted on Ukrainian banknotes, textile patterns and murals B次元官网网址� next to advertising billboards and army recruitment posters. Across the country, young men on dates and soldiers, sometimes missing a limb, carry bouquets on their return home.
UkraineB次元官网网址檚 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy famously brought a bouquet on a hospital visit in 2022 to a teenage girl injured while fleeing advancing Russian forces outside Kyiv.
At an underpass flower stall below KyivB次元官网网址檚 central Maidan Square, vendor Olha Semynog sells bunches of flowers for $2.50 each. For those with more in their pockets, she can go all the way up to a giant bouquet for $75.
Even during wartime, her busiest day, she says, is March 8 B次元官网网址� International WomenB次元官网网址檚 Day. Her business has also picked up with men drafted into the military sending flowers home with online orders.
On the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, where the , residents still tend to the gardens of their damaged or completely destroyed homes. A park in Kyiv, near the left bank of the Dnieper River, features a large flower installation, welcoming from UkraineB次元官网网址檚 Western allies.
Flowers, explains Iryna Bielobrova, head of UkraineB次元官网网址檚 FloristsB次元官网网址� Association, are inextricably linked with UkrainiansB次元官网网址� culture, traditions and celebrated stages of life. They are also an emotional connection with the land.
B次元官网网址淟ife cannot be bright, full, and rich without flowers,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲reaths of flowers are preserved for years, and embroidered shirts are passed down to younger generations.B次元官网网址�
Bielobrova fled in the aftermath of RussiaB次元官网网址檚 2022 full-scale invasion, moving to the Netherlands, the worldB次元官网网址檚 flower-producing powerhouse. In comparison, Ukraine had a modest pre-war export market.
Once in the Netherlands, she worked with other florists who fled to make sure flowers were present whenever solidarity events for Ukraine were held in European capitals.
Sunflowers, grown since the 1700s in Ukraine, have become B次元官网网址� a symbol of UkraineB次元官网网址檚 defiance and resilience in the war.
Fields of the shoulder-high flowers are often seen across Ukraine and ZelenskyyB次元官网网址檚 Cabinet named the flower the symbol of national Remembrance Day in 2020.
B次元官网网址淭hey provide an escape from the horrors of bombings, destruction, pain, and tears,B次元官网网址� said Bielobrova, who has returned to Ukraine from the Netherlands and lives in Kyiv.
B次元官网网址淓motions are easily expressed with flowers,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淓ach flower speaks for itself, and together in a bouquet, they tell a whole story.B次元官网网址�
Flowers, Ukrainians say, stand not only for tradition but also for hope and healing.
Dobropark, a 370-acre (150 hectare) privately run garden and recreation area west of Kyiv, was rebuilt after a Russian attack and occupation that lasted for more than a month in 2020.
B次元官网网址淭his entire area was occupied by the Russian military,B次元官网网址� the parkB次元官网网址檚 landscape designer Olha Lyhvar said.
When the Russian forces pulled out, the parkB次元官网网址檚 tractors and electric buggies were also gone, she said. A three-story hotel that once stood on the property was leveled to its foundations.
Today, people come to the park to B次元官网网址渞econnect with nature,B次元官网网址� she said, standing next to a door frame B次元官网网址� all that remains of the bombed-out hotel.
B次元官网网址漃eople come here and can feel the force of life and see that it continues despite everything,B次元官网网址� Lyhvar said. B次元官网网址淲e must live on and find for ourselves joy and beauty in what surrounds us.B次元官网网址�
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