The power of the garden - Mood boosting plants
It is a well-known fact that flowers and plants have the power to make people happy. They bring a highly decorative touch to the garden, are the perfect gift for a special occasion, and can cheer you up when you're sad or brighten up a dull corner of your home.
Horticulture and gardening also provide benefits to our health system from reducing our anxiety and blood pressure to releasing oxygen. Here are some plants to boost your mood and add a splash of colour and positivity to your home.
Lavender
Producing dense spikes of wonderfully fragrant flowers and aromatic grey-green foliage, lavender has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Lavender plants are known to reduce anxiety and emotional stress, relieve headaches, aid sleep and are used in several aromatherapy treatments.
It is regularly used in essential oils due to its antibacterial properties, as well as being popular for massage, reflexology and as a vapour.
Geraniums
A plant with definite mood-enhancing properties is geranium. A popular choice for borders, containers and hanging baskets, geraniums have been used as horticultural therapy since Egyptian times. If you brew the leaves of its plant, you can produce a tasty tea that has soothing properties, whilst geranium oil helps tighten and tone dry skin and keeps it blemish-free.
Scented geraniums are said to have a mood-lifting effect and reduce stress, whilst their bright colours will flower their hearts out right through to autumn, providing you with a joyous display to enjoy for months.
Easy to care for, geraniums like it a little bit on the drier side so let the compost dry in between watering and thrive in our range of outdoor terracotta containers.
Chocolate Cosmos
When the going gets tough, who doesn’t like a piece of chocolate for comfort? The chocolate cosmos has a rich, velvety brown flower bloom with an intoxicating vanilla and cocoa scent.
Guaranteed to lift the lowest mood, the chocolate scent drifting on the breeze will transform your garden into a haven of calmness. Chocolate is linked to serotonin, a brain chemical that makes us feel more relaxed. It also causes the release of endorphins in our brain, making us feel happy.
Roses
We have all heard the phrase “Wake up and smell the roses.” Roses can make us feel less stressed out as they can lower your blood pressure and heart rate. They have a natural ability to add a pleasant perfume to your garden which raises the spirits and triggers some feel-good emotions.
They also come in a wide range of colours associated with love, passion, and excitement which will boost mood and help create peace of mind. Receiving a bouquet has been proven to be a scientific mood booster, which is what a bunch of beautiful roses will make a loved one’s day. Why not grow climbing roses up our collection of garden arches and obelisks?
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums are said to be associated with joy and optimism and there are many benefits of these plants. The plants have been proven to purify the air by removing toxins in the air and releasing a scent that helps us to relax.
Often used in tea, chrysanthemum cools the body and the mind and is high in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It is a great source of vitamin A that helps promote vision and skin health, as well as manage anxiety and cardiovascular health. It also makes a fantastic cut flower so make sure you bring this plant into your home.
Sunflower
Sunflowers are a daily dose of sunshine in our busy lives. Their bright yellow colour has been scientifically proven to make you feel happy and spontaneous, acting like the sun and boosting our Vitamin D and serotonin.
In Chinese culture and symbolism, the sunflower represents longevity and good luck as it is reminiscent of a miniature sun. They are perceived as positive flowers as they follow the sun and are given as a gift of warmth, luck, adoration, and friendship.
Basil
Basil is an outdoor or indoor plant that will give you a mood boost. The herb contains a compound called linalool which reduces our stress responses. It's fantastic for anxiety and calming the nerves and has a fantastic floral scent.
Most commonly used in cooking, this versatile herb is also popular in aromatherapy and perfumes as the oil is very beneficial. The herb also alleviates digestive issues, is anti-inflammatory and promotes healthy blood pressure. Basil will thrive in our outdoor herb planter or our self-watering troughs.
Orchid
The orchid is very popular with Feng Shui practitioners who love to use the house plants when increasing positive energy in a room. When placed indoors, orchids produce beneficial oxygen, which creates a calm and relaxed environment in your room.
With a long flowering period, orchids can be a long-term mood booster and can have a lasting healing effect thanks to their soothing natural beauty. If you work from home, they are also said to improve focus, and offset stresses of everyday life, releasing serotonin and endorphins making people feel good.
Spider plant
The spider plant, as well as other houseplants, tap into the increasingly important ‘wellness’ trend, as they work to purify the air that we breathe and remove toxins from the environment around us.
Spider plants have been found to remove 95% of formaldehyde in the air, boosting both our mental and physical well-being. They are also easy for a beginner as they require little maintenance and need little water and be placed in indirect sunlight.
Boston Fern
The Boston Fern is also great for health as it purifies the air around us by removing up to 1863 toxins per hour. It not only lifts your mood but enables you to have a clear mind by clearing formaldehyde, benzene, and other common household chemicals that may build up around our homes.
It is listed as one of the houseplants in NASA’s list of indoor air-purifying lists so bringing nature into our own home with our indoor planters or two can have a huge impact on how we feel.
For more information on the benefits of gardening:
