Stunned by sight of a scarlet phaleonopsis, I actually BOUGHT this PLASTIC orchid for $5.99 at TJ Max when I was shopping for a Le Creuset knockoff Dutch oven.
Sure, it’s flat-out fake, but it radiates unfailing good cheer every day, winter or summer, day or night. And it serves as a reminder that it doesn’t pay to be a snob, about anything. Ever.
What other kinds of fake stuff could bring joy to our lives if we got down off our ‘authenticity’ pedestals and went barefoot for a while?

Editor’s Note: Spurred by Susan’s words, we hunted around for examples of “fake” on Google and elsewhere. Typing “fake” into Improvised Life’s SEARCH, we came up with the astonishing TED talk by Anne Cuddy, in which she talks about making yourself more powerful and REAL by faking it. A must watch, truly revelatory video.

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5 replies on “Confession of a ‘Real’ Gardener and the Virtues of “Fake”

  1. I feel pretty much the same way about some silk flowers I have in the apartment. In my living room, there is a large glass pot filled with a couple dozen “fronds” of forsythia, and in the bedroom, I have a two “sprigs” of white dogwood. It’s like having Spring all year round.

  2. I have had silk violets in my apartment for years. I love them. I keep them in a beautiful ceramic vase I bought in Brittany. I also have a bowl of bright red cherries sitting on a sideboard just inside my front door. Although I don’t usually like artifice, both make me smile very day.

  3. My beautiful silk ficus tree is dropping leaves. Any suggestions? (Sad, but true.)

  4. Tiny drops of glue and patience.

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