HOUSTON — JoyBox is a little Houston flower shop with major demand these days.
That’s thanks, in part, to fresh-looking flowers that are anything but.
“It’s a new technology, it’s really cool, and we wanted to bring it to Houston,” said owner Layla Asgari.
Asgari was a dentist who decided to pursue her passion as a florist.
“It’s incredibly fun,” Asgari said.
Half her business is selling fresh-looking flowers that require little maintenance and zero water.
“They are real roses grown in Ecuador,” Asgari said. “And then, at the peak of their beauty and bloom, they’re cut and preserved in a proprietary solution, and that allows them to look and feel like a fresh rose and they last for up to a year or more.”
Different from freeze-dried or dehydrated, Asgari said she discovered this particular preservation process overseas.
JoyBox claims to have been the first in Houston to sell the so-called “everlasting” roses.
“We were just doing fresh flowers in the beginning, and I said, 'I’m going to find out what this is,'” Asgari said. “I just did tons of research.”
Her shop packages the roses in clear acrylic, square or French-style hat boxes.
There’s no need for a stem since the roses don’t need water.
“We have a little mini that’s one rose,” Asgari said.
A single flower will set you back $39 while an arrangement of “everlasting” roses runs about three times the cost of a normal bouquet.
“It’s an investment, but they’re going to last you,” Asgari said.