I Have This Thing for Flowers Essays on the Roots of Relationships

By: Alysia Sawchyn

Published by Flatiron Books, 2026-08-04

A story of love, marriage, and flowers from beloved writer and gardening enthusiast Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn

It begins with an ending. Six months before they were to be married, Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn’s fiancée broke off their engagement, leaving her stunned and reeling. Looking for stability — and health insurance — she married a friend instead. Then, while sharing a home and tending to a garden together, the marriage of convenience turned into a marriage of love.

In science, art, and mythology, we cannot help but to see flowers as metaphors for the fleeting nature of youth, vitality, and love. While it’s easy to casually admire something beautiful, it requires a closer look to appreciate the effort that produces that beauty. In I Have This Thing For Flowers, Sawchyn does just that, likening the many flowers she has grown in her garden to a range of relationships and activities from motherhood to ex-boyfriends to Greek mythology.

Cataloguing all of the great romances of her life like an herbarium of flowers preserved from the garden, Sawchyn examines the kinds of love that can't be explained.