BY SOFIA VALDES
A small, Latin-owned floral business, Ora La Casa De Las Flores, is offering fresh bouquets and small gifts for Valentine’s Day.
These specials are available for purchase both in-store and online. The shop is offering local pickup and delivery throughout New York City within parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Those interested in purchasing online, can pre-order here by the preferred Feb. 10 date. The physical store, located at 4208 43rd Ave., in Sunnyside, will also be open.
Ora La Casa De Las Flores offers custom bouquets starting at $35 and $50, hand poured wooden wick candles starting at $30, botanical skin care (made by the floral shop) such as body butter for $20, witch hazel mist for $15, shampoo bars and soaps for $20 and more.
The floral shop also has a flower bar, where one can pick and choose flowers they like in order to make a bouquet.
“You can bring your own vase and we can help you. You don’t pay anything extra, you just pay for the stems and we help you style your vases for free. So, you can come and be like, you know, I only have $30 or even $15 and I have these little vases can you help me arrange it? And we have flowers that start at $1 dollar per stem up to $12, $20 dollars for some dry flowers,” said Tangni Cortes, owner of Ora La Casa De Las Flores.
Ora La Casa De Las Flores offers fresh, long-lasting flowers that have an aesthetic that is truly breathtaking, according to Cortes.
“We source most of our flowers during the growing season from local farms. A lot of our dried flowers are from local farms and you can really tell the difference when something is grown in the U.S. versus, you know, somewhere else. It really makes a difference,” Cortes said.
Cortes’s flowers are truly one-of-a-kind and beautifully arranged. They use sustainable practices in their store, which makes Ora La Casa De Las Flores one of the very few eco-friendly floral shops around the borough.
“When we thought about opening our shop, we saw that in Sunnyside, we didn’t have a sustainable flower shop,” Cortes said. “Most flower shops use floral foam; a lot of them use plastic. We didn’t see a lot of variety and the community is very beautiful so we wanted to have a place where people could come for inspiration and we can offer sustainable and eco-friendly options at an affordable price.”
The floral shop also carries a lot of work from local artists.
“We have at least over 12 different Sunnyside artists work here. We have cards, ceramics, textiles that are all made locally,” Cortes said. “So they’re not just supporting us, but they’re supporting a handful of Sunnyside-based artists.”
When you walk into Cortes’ shop, you know you’ve landed somewhere special — from feeling like you stepped into a plant oasis, to her unmatched dedication to each customer, her shop has become a special gem in Sunnyside where many customers go to draw inspiration.
“We’re not just a normal flower shop,”Cortes said. “If you want a gift and you are in Sunnyside, you come to the shop.”
To see more, visit the shop’s website and Instagram page.
