Kirk Vlachos doesn’t make succulent and flower arrangements for the money.
Every Saturday, he arrives at the Burnaby Farmer’s Market with some of the creative arrangements he’s been making for nearly two decades.
“I like it to yap, you know, for people around,” said Vlachos, whose first language is Greek. “To yap with the people, make new friends, you know. That's nice.”
Vlachos likes creating something different than what people usually see in stores.He grows the plants at his home in Burnaby near Edmonds, and at his son's house in New Westminster.
Before he retired, gardening and making plant and flower arrangements wasn’t something he had done before. But after some experimenting, he came up with his own unique style.
Vlachos started selling his plant arrangements in 2000 shortly after he retired from his 30-year career as a custodial supervisor at UBC.
He was looking for a project to get him moving and out of the house, and found that gardening was just what he needed.
“First year drive me crazy, when I retire,” he said. “I can't stand it. I don't know what to do.”
Now he starts his mornings in the garden with his coffee. He says looking after the plants and get his hands dirty is soothing.
“That's what I call my 'doctor,' because my mind is there, for the plants,” he said.
Vlachos sells his arrangements every Saturday at the Burnaby Farmer's Market (4949 Canada Way), and every Thursday at the Farmers Market in Triangle Square on Granville Island (1680 Johnston St.).
