Nairobi, Jan. 31 -- Preserved flowers, rather than fresh ones, are gradually becoming an interior design option. And Kendi Kamanja, a florist, is pushing the boundaries on what constitutes a beautiful bouquet of dried flowers.

We meet at her factory in Kikuyu, teeming with workers in the process of drying the flowers, some unloading fresh-cut roses that have just arrived from Eldoret, and others preparing a flower wall for a photoshoot. The wall is filled with different colour patterns of the preserved hydrangea flowers.

"This is my calling. Nothing makes me happier than working with flowers. Being able to play around with different ideas and seeing what comes out of them, is my life's purpose," she tells the BDLife at her company Kendi...