A Mother’s Day Bouquet That Lasts Forever
Just in time for Mother’s Day, Mom and I visited one of the most beautiful immersive art experiences currently in Melbourne, CJ Hendry’s Flower Shop pop-up at Chadstone Shopping Centre. But this wasn’t your typical flower market.
Instead of fresh flowers, the space was filled with hyper-realistic sculptural blooms that would never wilt, die, or lose their colour. Created by Melbourne-born artist CJ Hendry, the installation transforms the simple ritual of buying flowers into something playful, nostalgic, and unexpectedly emotional.
The entire pop-up was designed like a greenhouse-style flower market, lined with rows and rows of colourful stems. Walking through the space honestly felt like stepping into a dream version of a florist. Every flower looked almost too real to touch. Its so pretty and I honestly love looking at anything collectively colourful!
What made the experience even more special was getting to do it with Mom.
Originally, she said she wasn’t going to make a bouquet herself… but after a few minutes, she slowly started picking flowers “just for fun.” Then she created the prettiest arrangement out of both of us, someone even complimented her arrangement. I became the assistant instead, and helped her add more stems because her colour palette was genuinely so much prettier than mine.
With her background in arts and design, I knew she’d love this experience, and seeing her enjoy the creative process so much honestly made the whole visit even more memorable.
One of my favourite details was the inclusion of limited-edition Australian native flowers, especially the banksia (which I absolutely had to get). The installation perfectly balanced playful pop-art energy with thoughtful design details, making it feel more like an interactive gallery than a retail pop-up.
And of course… we had to take photos afterwards. The greenhouse setup, soft natural lighting, and Chadstone’s ceilings complemented the colour palette of the flowers mom chose.
I honestly wish Melbourne had more immersive art experiences like this, spaces that encourage people to slow down, create something, and simply enjoy beauty for a moment.
If you’re planning to visit before Mother’s Day, I definitely recommend going early and giving yourself time to properly walk through the entire installation.
Visiting Information
Each stem is priced at $10 AUD, and if you pick 9 stems, you’ll get the 10th free.
The immersive Flower Shop experience is available in Chadstone (across Mecca), Melbourne until May 10th (Mother’s Day) before moving to the Sydney Botanic Gardens from May 15–17. Their full-time store can be located in SoHo, New York (Sydney & Hong Kong coming soon).
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