Matriarch of Mile End uproots Dragon Flowers from Bernard St. — but she hasn’t gone far

Caroline Tanguay brought her son Noé to their favourite Montreal flower shop on a recent Wednesday afternoon, only to find the locale empty and abandoned. A pair of handwritten signs on the store window — one in French, one in English — informed them that the Mile End institution had moved.

Owner Tamey Lau has uprooted Dragon Flowers from the Bernard St. block it called home for more than four decades and reopened a few streets over and around the corner, on St-Laurent Blvd.

“It’s nice,” Tanguay said, surveying the new digs. “This store means a lot to me. I’ve been coming here for 20 years. When there are important moments — birthdays, difficult things — I always come and she asks, ‘What’s the occasion?’”

Tamey Lau’s daughter Amanda Chan came to work for her mother full time after earning a degree in software engineering. “My career can wait,” she said. “Time with my mom is precious.” Evan Buhler

As Lau added some extra flowers to her purchase as a gift, Tanguay repeated a familiar refrain: Beyond being a haven for beautiful bouquets, the shop’s enduring appeal has everything to do with the woman who runs it.

Known throughout the area (and even on Google Maps) simply as Tamey, Lau is the flowery godmother of Mile End.

“It’s a relationship,” Tanguay said. “She’s an anchor, a person everyone loves here. We want to keep her forever.”

Lau has sold and gifted flowers to successive generations of Montrealers. Working from early morning to late at night — and for a time all through the night — she has forever been a beacon of goodwill and good cheer. And she has done it all as a single mom raising 14 children.

Tamey Lau, owner of Dragon Flowers, has sold and gifted flowers to successive generations of Montrealers. Evan Buhler

“Bernard St. helped me; it saved me,” said Lau, who moved to Montreal from Hong Kong in the late 1970s. “Thanks to this business, I can succeed and survive. I passed a million hard times, but now I’m OK.”

Dragon Flowers occupied several addresses on Bernard over the years. When the store was gutted by a fire in 2013, a crowdfunding campaign raised thousands of dollars to help get Lau back on her feet.

She spent the past half-decade in a space that was previously home to a sporting goods store at the corner of Esplanade Ave. But recurring water leaks coming through the ceiling, a lack of hot water and ongoing heating issues made the situation untenable.

“I’m old. No heat for my fingers and foot is very hard, plus a broken window for almost five years,” Lau said. “When the temperature was minus 22, it was freezing. All my plants would die. And no hot water: When I cleaned the floor, I would use cold water. For me, it was very hard to deal with (the landlord). It make me crazy. Make me crying a lot.”

Tamey Lau’s cat Dudu, Chinese for fluffy, basks in the sun at Dragon Flowers in Montreal. Evan Buhler

Rent at Dragon Flowers’ new location is more expensive, but she says it’s worth every penny.

“This place, for me, I can relax to work. I have hot water, which is very important.”

The situation at the store’s former location “was quite harsh,” said Lau’s daughter Amanda Chan.

“My mom sometimes is so used to working, she doesn’t care about her health. She has arthritis. No heat really hurts her bones.”

Chan came to work for her mother full time after earning a degree in software engineering.

“My career can wait,” she said. “Time with my mom is precious.”

Chan and her siblings grew up in Dragon Flowers but only she and her sister Candice continue to work in the shop. The two spent more than a year convincing their mother to move. When the time finally came, their brother drove in from Ottawa on two successive evenings and they did it in the space of a few hours each night, with help from some friends.

Amanda Chan, daughter of Tamey Lau who owns Dragon Flowers, assists Andrew Sisk with a flower arrangement. Evan Buhler

Chan is inspired by her mother’s boundless energy.

“We see how much work she puts in,” she said. “She never complains. Her work ethic has brought us to where we are today. She’s amazing. Being a mom, working and making us food? It’s crazy. I’m so proud of her. I don’t think words can describe how much she has done and endured. And she keeps spreading positivity. I’m really impressed.”

The family has always lived in the neighbourhood, Chan explained. She resides “close by” the new location, while her mom is just a 10-minute walk away.

Outremont resident Betty Ohayon has been coming to Dragon Flowers for over 30 years.

“It’s this extraordinary woman and all her kids,” she said. “I’ve seen them all grow up. It’s incredible what she has done. She arrived alone and worked hard, without knowing the language. It’s quite the feat.”

As she headed off holding a bouquet for her mother’s 99th birthday, Ohayon turned to Lau and said, “Good luck. We really love you.”

Dragon Flowers and owner Tamey Lau have “always been part of Mile End.” Evan Buhler

Visual artist Manuela Jara was picking up flowers for her friend’s birthday.

“I live in Rosemont. Before, I was in Mile End,” she said. “Often I would come home late and a bit tipsy and buy myself a flower. It’s so accessible. I’m happy it still exists.”

Adèle Benoit used to stop by Lau’s shop every day while walking her son to school and Lau would always offer the boy chocolates. “Sometimes, if she was busy, he would stop just to see if a treat was coming,” she recalled.

Dragon Flowers’ new location is a bit out of her way, “but if I plan my walk, it’s fine,” Benoit said. “Now that I know where it is, I can make it part of my trajectory.”

Lau “has always been part of Mile End,” she explained. “She’s an important part of the community. We’ve lost so many stores because of gentrification. How many more fast-food restaurants could we possibly need? So it’s important to support stuff we actually do need.”

Lau still works hard, coming in at 6 every morning and leaving at 11 p.m. But the new surroundings are allowing her to enjoy the little things once again.

Andrew Sisk browses for flowers at Dragon Flowers. Evan Buhler

“I really appreciate my job,” she said. “My kids don’t want it, they want me to close the business. They don’t want to work here when I’m gone. I love my business.

“It’s not for the money. People pass and say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ They don’t buy anything. They just come to say hi. It’s very good energy. Sometimes, they’re very suffering. Some people are fed up with life. They can’t find a job or don’t have money. I always tell people, ‘Be stronger. You can take care of everything’.”

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Owner Tamey Lau uprooted Dragon Flowers from Bernard St. and reopened a few streets over and around the corner, on St-Laurent Blvd. Evan Buhler

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