At 7:45 a.m. in the tech park of London, the office buildings are just waking up. As Administrative Manager Olivia opens the door to the Marketing Department’s office, she hears a soft gasp behind her—Planning Specialist Maya is jogging toward her, stopping abruptly at the door.

“Is this… magic?” Maya stares at the corner by the window. What was once an empty space now holds a nearly two-meter-tall artificial bellflower tree on a light oak stand. Its slender branches gracefully extend to either side, with egg-shaped leaves stacked in layers and new tender leaves curling at the edges in soft green.

Olivia smiles and adjusts her beige coat: “During last week’s departmental meeting, we discussed adding some life to the office. This is a custom-made artificial bellflower tree for the office, installed last night by the team.” She walks over to the stand and gently brushes her fingers across a leaf.

Maya carefully extends her hand: “Oh my! The veins on the leaves are so clear!” The sunlight gradually breaks through the morning mist and filters through the glass, casting light across the branches and leaves.

Design Manager Lucas enters with his laptop bag and activates the macro mode: “The color gradient on these leaves is amazing! It looks even more realistic than the plant images in my asset library.”

The Marketing Department office is typical of Scandinavian minimalist design. The arrival of this artificial bellflower tree instantly softened the sharp lines of the space.

Olivia walks around the stand to show it off: “I specifically chose a style with a ceramic base. You can see that each branch forks at a different angle.”

By noon, the sunlight becomes intense. Maya, holding a stack of documents, passes by and notices how the leaves subtly change under the different lighting.

“The thickness of the leaves even varies!” She pinches the edge of an older, lower leaf. Administrative Assistant Tom pushes the tea cart past: “It feels like the air is fresher?”

Olivia smiles and hands him a cup of coffee: “I sprayed a bit of citrus grass essential oil around the base. By the way, the artificial material is waterproof.”

Lucas suddenly points to a slightly curled new leaf: “Check out this detail! The edge of the leaf has a tiny notch, like it’s been nibbled by insects.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, Hanna, who was recently transferred from the Munich office, stares at the green hues: “Is this a real bellflower tree?”

Olivia spins her coffee mug: “No, it’s a artificial bellflower tree. We considered real ones, but the horticulturist said our north-facing office only gets 30% of the standard light. This artificial version is much easier to manage, no need to worry about light or humidity.”

Tom suddenly pulls out his phone and opens his notes: “Speaking of easy maintenance, the administrative meeting last week was tracking our ‘plant killers’ list. Surely no one will kill this one, right?”

“I specifically chose food-grade silicone material,” Olivia opens the supplier’s quality control report, “It’s EU eco-certified. Also, its branches are bendable and shapeable.”

Hanna suddenly points at the video conference screen: “Just now, when we were connecting with the Paris headquarters, their project manager asked if we had moved offices.”

By Thursday afternoon, a cold rain began. Olivia walked past the artificial bellflower tree and saw Hanna sitting on the nearby sofa writing a report.

“Working overtime?” Olivia asks softly as she sets down her documents. Hanna looks up and smiles: “This tree is so therapeutic. I was struggling with my report, but looking at these branches and leaves really calmed me down.”

The evening thunderstorm suddenly caused a power outage. As Tom walked around with his phone flashlight, he noticed how the tree appeared in a mystical dark green hue under the red light.

On Friday morning, Maya hung a few small maple leaf decorations on the branches. “We have a Halloween event next week,” she adjusted the ornaments, “The branches of this artificial bellflower tree are so flexible.”

During lunch break, colleagues gathered around the artificial bellflower tree to eat lunch.

At the second week’s department meeting, Olivia presented a new renovation plan: “We could place more artificial bellflower trees in other areas of the office.”

Lucas immediately pulled up the design sketch: “The supplier says we can customize the height and shape. By the way, they also have a version with small white flower buds.”

Tom flipped through the purchase report and added: “It’s really cost-effective! We used to spend as much on purchasing and maintaining real bellflower trees every year as we would on buying three artificial bellflower trees, and this one has a five-year warranty.”

Hanna shared customer feedback: “The Dutch clients we hosted yesterday were praising our office environment during the proposal.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the company’s branding photographer came to take promotional photos of the office environment. As the camera captured colleagues working through the branches of the artificial bellflower tree, even the photographer couldn’t help but admire: “This looks so natural.”

At the end of the month, the employee satisfaction survey showed that the “office environment comfort” score had risen by 47% compared to last month. Olivia posted the printed report on the bulletin board. “I didn’t expect an artificial bellflower tree could make such a big difference,” she said to her passing colleagues.

Hanna walked over holding a package she just received, containing a plant guide from her family in Munich.

Lucas was working on the office renovation plans for the next quarter: “I’m planning to place a shorter one next to the meeting room’s projection wall.”

As the evening sun set, golden light streamed through the branches and leaves of the artificial bellflower tree. Olivia stood next to the tree, watching her colleagues pack up to leave for the day.

“Remember when we first renovated? Everyone complained that the office felt like a cold glass box,” she said to Lucas. Lucas gazed at the light spots dancing through the leaves: “By Christmas, we could string some small lights between the branches.”

As night fell, the artificial bellflower tree spread its branches in the warm glow, standing as a silent guardian of the space.