SINGAPORE – On her 32nd birthday, Ms Rong Choy received a 90cm-tall bouquet of ling zhi mushrooms tucked within spiraling cordyceps and white dried plants.
The $450 bouquet was a gift from her then boyfriend in 2021, and she loved it.
Ms Choy, a self-professed mushroom fanatic who loves these organisms for their colours, textures and ability to recycle nutrients, said the gift combined the things she loved – bouquets and fungi.
There are a number of companies here that farm mushrooms and fungi for food, including Bewilder, the firm behind Ms Choy’s bouquet. But this start-up is also doing something different with nature’s recyclers.
The company, founded in 2020, is turning fungi into bouquets and other beautiful things, and its creations have found some firm fans.
Ms Choy, a 34-year-old artist, said: “It’s something unique and special, it’s grown and cultivated right here in Singapore, will last forever, and is a great reminder of the humble mushroom that plays such a unique role in… the environment.”
Ms Choy went on to tie the knot with her boyfriend, and the bouquet he gifted her is the first one sold by Bewilder. It has remained intact for two years, and is now proudly displayed in the couple’s living room.