Fake flowers in Afghanistan

When I was en route to Panjshir we stopped in the town of ?? and purchased some flowers. When they told me they were going to buy some flowers they just said “flowers” not “plastic flowers” or “fake flowers” so I was struck when I walked into the “flower shop” to see wall to wall of fake plastic flowers. Now there is the pragmatist in me that says “hey they last a long time” but then there is my sense of taste (which is heavily influence by my decorative plant snob mother [and she’s damn good at it]) which says “Ugh! Couldn’t we get something else?”.

 

Apparently Kabul is about the only place you can buy fresh flowers in Afghanistan, plastic flowers are totally acceptable here, not something you would find stuck in the ground in some trailer park (like the US).

 

It does make me wonder about dried flowers, or maybe even origami flowers both of which just seem more tasteful to me, but then again I am heavily biased.

 

I can’t imagine that growing flowers (which I think of as being a fairly delicate crop) would be particularly easy but hey, that’s way outside of my league of expertise.