The answer: ME! I’ve murdered enough houseplants in my decades of trying to keep them alive to be curiously open to the idea of fake plants for indoors. So the article “Stop Murdering Houseplants. Try Lego Flowers Instead” in the New York Times’ Wirecutter section hooked me instantly, with its promise of “plants” that will never need watering or be damaged by bad indoor light and air or by either of my two cats, one of whom looks freakishly like the one in this photo. From the article:
Lego’s line of brick-built flora aimed at adults has a pleasing balance of realism and visible studs. It isn’t out to fool anyone. Here are faux plants that proudly say, “No, I’m not real, but you’re gonna love me—or at least appreciate that someone dreamed me up.”
The Botanical Collection started out as a hobby for Lego designers, who were building plants and flowers only to keep around the office. Designer Nicolas Vás created a bonsai tree to decorate the project area for folks working on the Lego Ninjago series, and friends began asking if he’d build them one for their desks. He’d always hoped one of his horticultural creations might move into production, and when the company decided to create a portfolio of designs specifically for grown-ups, his tree idea finally found a home, along with a bouquet of flowers created by designers Anderson Grubb and Astrid Sundorf Christensen.
The Bonsai Tree was my first Botanical Collection build, so it holds a special place in my heart. The set was notoriously hard to find at the height of the pandemic, and instead of shelling out twice its value on the secondhand market, I practiced the patience of real bonsai cultivators and waited out supply issues until a restock.
The tree comes with adjustable green leaves and a second set of pink and white cherry blossoms, partially made by ingeniously repurposed Lego Frogs. I found the trunk to be a bit unsteady upon my first build—it came apart several times as I worked on the leaves—but I accepted the breaks and rebuilding as part of the process. Again, patience.
Build tip: I love the tree’s endless customization options, like the weeping willow version pictured above that I made with Lego’s Plant Vine Seaweed and Plant Flower Stems. You can order all sorts of additional pieces using Lego’s Pick a Brick page, or you can browse its wall of loose pieces in-store. I’ve got my eye on the drippy pink and purple crystal rods featured in the Avatar Toruk Makto & Tree of Souls set to swap in during Mardi Gras.
I’ve never touched a Lego in my life but am game to give it a try, though the mention of the Lego rose being “entry level” suggests that I might fail at these fake houseplants even worse than I have with real ones. The rose is only $13 and the tulips $10, so it would be cheap enough to find out.
Lego Orchids might be trickier. 
The succulent garden looks pretty difficult.
How hard IS this?
Are there any Lego aficionados here who can weigh in on how difficult these would be to construct? Thanks in advance.
Imagine a Lego corpse flower…
The bouquet Lego was a gift to me for Mother’s Day last year. I have two young cats who do not allow me to have living plants indoors unless strewn on the floor half ingested as I run to research toxicity to cats.
My son, always a whiz with Legos (to the consternation of garden writer Ilene Sternberg, in whose garden he constructed something while we visited and she wrote about with feigned disdain) helped. He outpaced me, but it was not terribly hard at all if you have any Lego experience. If not, start with the flatter botanical sets and work up. Attaching tiny pieces and assemblies stems take more practiced hands.
Better still, grab a child or grandchild to help. I’ve been enjoying my bouquet on the mantle alll year, moving around the parts a little or the petals. Will probably use a can of compressed air to removed dust one of these days. I want the orchids next (hint, hint family). P.S. The cats are completely uninterested in assembled legos. Loose ones on the floor or table are fair game.
I’ll confess I’ve built most of them. First the bonsai tree… yes the trunk was a bit tricky but as the author notes, with patience you can get it to be stable. Then I did the bouquet of flowers. Pretty easy overall, as was the orchid. The succulents were also fairly easy to build. I haven’t built the Bird of Paradise because it is twice the price of the other sets, though, gosh, I’m in pretty deep anyway.
Overall, they are fun to build and I did impress my 7 year old great nephew with my mad Lego-building skills!
Lego knows their audience and their instructions are super easy to follow–even a child can do it! 🙂 So you shouldn’t have any problem constructing them. I keep hinting to my children and husband that I need one of these, but still haven’t gotten one. Someday…
Cool! If I was a young person I would be more impressed by someone bringing me a Lego bouquet than real flowers that die.
what about scent? an essential part of a bouquet in my world.
Wow, I like this botanical Lego! I just might have to get back on the Lego bandwagon again. Thank you for sharing this, Susan.
Please, God, no…..
They belong in the nearest compost pile, except they are not compostable.
What the world doesn’t need is more plastic.
Thank you, Susan. I did not know about this series! I love the Lego orchid. I enjoyed keeping building kit sculpture made by my children on display when they were small, and now that they are adults I can look forward to giving a botanical build present.
Having spent countless Christmas breaks constructing Lego including some very complicated sets, you should have no difficulty in building these Susan. The step by step instructions that come with each set makes the process even simpler.