by Grace Clift
Jason Jin, also known as @floweracademia on TikTok, is the Bob Ross of flower arranging. In each video, he shows some beautiful flowers from his local market to the camera, rhythmically picking the leaves off the stems as he describes the background behind the bouquet. His peaceful guides have clocked up over 14.2 million likes, and he’s officially beloved as the saviour for clueless couples.
Jason joined my Zoom call at 10 am in LA. He was sitting in his bright, white apartment with views of the city behind him, while he told me that he’s also an actor. The experience couldn’t get more perfectly ‘LA’.
“There was one summer… I wasn’t getting any auditions: no commercials, no TV shows, no nothing. So I hit up my aunt. She owns a flower shop, and I thought I was going to do more inventory, more business things, but we were short on some floral designers. And I was like, “Yeah, you know what? Let me try.””
“And you know, when you find something that you’re good at, time doesn’t really exist. And there’s this flow where you just, you might have, like, this ugly face going on. You don’t even know, but you’re in the zone. I never experienced something so calming and peaceful.”
There are three rules that are key to Jin’s flower arranging: intention, freedom, and quality. First: the intention matters more than any flower ‘rules’.
“If that person likes this colour, if that person likes these kinds of flowers, and you know, you get those flowers. Who cares if it’s Valentine’s Day? I know we’re supposed to do red roses, but if she loves tulips, then get her red tulips instead of red roses.”
For Jason, choosing the flowers is all about freedom.
“Just go to the flower market and just let the flowers speak to you. I can’t decide exactly or plan out what flower arrangement I’m going to do. I just, I hadn’t. I might have an idea, but when I go to the flower market, I might just throw that idea in the trash, because this flower is more fresh than this, or this colour looks more vibrant than that.”
This leads on to the last point: quality. Jason looks for a few things when picking out flowers for his viral arrangements.
“Look at the bottom of the stem; if it’s brown, you know, if the leaves are a little yellow or turning a little brown, you might want to avoid those. If the flowers are too open and soft, you know, they’re not going to last long. When you buy them, you want to buy them a little bit closed. If it’s for an event, you want to buy them a little slightly open and then leave them overnight so it really opens right on the right time.”
When asked about his inspirations when creating arrangements, some florists were mentioned – his aunt, who works with 1-800-Flowers.com, his friend at My Beverly Hills Florist, and his mentor at the silk-flower shop Aldik Home. However, he also mentioned his old golf coach, Gene, with whom he has lost contact over the years.
“I wish I could find him, but he’s always on my mind still till this day, especially when I’m doing flower arranging. When I get into, like, a teaching mode on my TikTok or Instagram or whatever, I really channel Gene because on the range, he was so, so calm. That always stuck with me – being calm when you teach, and being patient.”
Bob Ross, of course, also came up as a peaceful influence, not only in his videos but also in his personal life.
“I felt like I could just relate to the guy, because of his vibe. I feel like I’m such a chill dude, just like him. I remember telling my roommate – he was there from day one – and I was like, “Yeah, I kind of want to do it how Bob Ross does it.” And in the comments, people started to comment like, “Dude, you’re like the Bob Ross of flowers.” So I was like, “[I must be] doing something right!””
For many, Jason is an antidote to the toxic masculine influencers like Andrew Tate. On @floweracademia, being kind and vulnerable is the pillar of being a man. I asked Jason how he viewed the concept of ‘healthy masculinity’.
“It should be an easy question, but it’s kind of tough. I kind of struggle too, right? There’s a lot of things I have to unlearn. You kind of go through this journey, you figure out what you don’t like about yourself, whether it’s anger issues or some things that you’ve always held inside and never really talked about, you know. But once you kind of heal from that – and I can’t tell people how to heal from that, you know, whether it’s therapy or just making your own art – you enter this mindset of peace, you know, and patience. [You focus on] just being compassionate to others and caring for others, and not making it all about yourself, and not being self-centred, and just being comfortable with that.
“And in terms of, like, dating… So I talk a little bit about my relationship and how I feel with my current girlfriend right now, and it’s, I feel so cringe doing it like this. These are things I don’t even tell my closest boys, you know. I don’t share any of this stuff. [But] there’s nothing wrong with sharing how you truly feel about someone or something.”
Jason Jin teaches audiences that there’s so much more to gifting flowers than grabbing a bunch of roses. There is care imbued in picking a healthy petal, and a romance in choosing your loved one’s favourite flower. Jason’s floral guides help kindness and creativity to bloom in an age where it is sorely needed.
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