5 Benefits of Flowers for Your Physical and Mental Health

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Flowers have been around for millions of years and give us various colours. We grow them, pick them and buy them to bring into our homes, and they give us joy all year round.

Do you like flowers? Did you know they are much more than a pretty gift for a loved one? These blossoms of plants produce seeds that, in turn, become flowers, and the beautiful cycle continues with only the sun to allow them to produce their food and thrive.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of flowers in your life.

Benefit #1: Flowers connect you with nature.

All plants grow in their outdoor settings, but we can also bring that natural resource inside our homes to enjoy. Flowers are cultivated with this purpose in mind, and not only do they bring colour and fragrance indoors, but they also connect you with the overall environment that surrounds your home.

We all spend too much time in front of screens these days, and with a busy work/home life, it can be tough to get outside and take in nature. Your indoor flowers are there to keep that connection going and provide balance to our concrete jungle. Even a bouquet from a flower shop carries a natural allure. It spruces up your environment with a touch of nature.

Benefit #2: Flowers are good for physical and mental health.

Research has been done examining the positive effects of having flowers and plants in the rooms of hospitals and rehabilitation centres. This, along with horticulture therapy, can help speed up healing for a variety of reasons, including:

  • Working with living flowers
  • Getting your hands in the soil
  • Improving physical function
  • Using the analogy of new roots and new growth
  • Reduces stress
  • Stabilizes mood
  • Decreases pain through sensory stimulation

Just looking at flowers and their natural beauty and design can change chemical reactions in the body to aid in healing and repair. They elevate your mood by triggering happy emotions and can improve mental health by boosting energy and encouraging positive social behaviours.

Potted flowers will also help filter the air as they live in your home, and the cuttings can be spread around to different rooms to enhance your inner peace.

Benefit #3: Flowers are great for your garden.

Having flowers in your gardens can greatly enhance the success of other planets. Here are a few things flower does to help out:

Provide Shade

Flowering plants when they bloom can effectively filter out the sun for the more sensitive ground cover plants that can become damaged by too much sunlight.

Improve Pollination

Having flowers in the garden attracts bees, wasps, butterflies and even birds that look for nectar and help pollinate all plants. Fruiting crops get increased pollination and harvest thanks to these colourful attractors.

Manage Weeds

You can use flowering plants as an effective ground cover to keep weeds at bay. Flowers uniformly shade the soil and outcompete the weeds, making them less likely to take hold.

Provide Colour

Lots of the fruit and vegetables we eat grow with their green stalks and leaves, so having a variety of flowering plants can add that hit of colour to enhance the look of your garden. This will make your growing area more beautiful in the backyard or balcony.

Pest Management

There is several types of flowers you can companion plant with veggies to keep pests and diseases away. Nasturtiums and marigolds do this very effectively. Some flowers also produce chemicals that repel insects, attracting beneficial predators to eat up pests.

Benefit #4: Flowers give purpose

Similar to getting a pet, bringing in flowers requires a person to manage their growth, life cycle, and daily care. Keeping flowers healthy is a direct result of the caretaker, and this is a joy rather than a task. Pruning, fertilizing, watering and then cutting flowers to enjoy at full bloom is an art and one that gives a great sense of pride and satisfaction.

Benefit #5: Flowers smell great

The scent business is a billion-dollar industry, with everyone wanting to enhance their smell in any way possible. From perfume and cologne to essential oils and candles, we try to bring in scents to positively affect our daily lives. Why not get it from the source?

Flowers have a variety of smells that get chemically imitated, so it is much better to get those natural fragrances from different flowers in your home. Here are a few to consider:

  • Lilly
  • Rose
  • Hyacinth
  • Honeysuckle
  • Freesia
  • Lavender
  • Lilac
  • Peonies
  • Daffodil
  • Tulip
  • Iris
  • Carnation

Flowers are amazing plants that provide so much in our lives, and the benefits you receive are more than worth the cost of growing or buying them. Consider all that flowers can do for you, and then fill your home with them as often as possible so you can take advantage of all that these seed-producing blooms give us.

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