Flowering Plants Speed Post-surgery Recovery

Flowering Plants Speed Post-surgery Recovery

This post was borrowed from friend and fellow real florist Mark Smith, of Smith’s Flowers, Midland MI. I jut loved it and wanted to share it with all my readers as well.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2008) — Contact with nature has long been suspected to increase positive feelings, reduce stress, and provide distraction from the pain associated with recovery from surgery. Now, research has confirmed the beneficial effects of plants and flowers for patients recovering from abdominal surgery.

A recent study by Seong-Hyun Park and Richard H. Mattson, researchers from the Department of Horticulture, Recreation and Forestry at Kansas State University, provides strong evidence that contact with plants is directly beneficial to a hospital patient’s health. Using various medical and psychological measurements, the study set out to evaluate if plants in hospital rooms have therapeutic influences.
Studies show that when patients have great stress associated with surgery, they typically experience more severe pain and a slower recovery period. Some of these problems are treated through the use of anesthetics and analgesics, but, if not properly administered, the drugs can have side effects ranging from vomiting and headaches to drug dependency or even fatality. It is therefore beneficial to patients and care providers to develop approaches that improve the overall patient experience but don’t rely on pharmaceuticals.
The study, published in the October 2008 issue of HortTechnology, was conducted on 90 patients recovering from an appendectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to hospital rooms with or without plants during their postoperative recovery periods. Data collected for the study included information on the length of hospitalization, administration of drugs for postoperative pain control, vital signs, ratings of pain intensity, distress, fatigue and anxiety, and the patient’s room satisfaction questionnaire.

Patients with plants in their rooms had significantly fewer intakes of pain medication, more positive physiological responses (lower blood pressure and heart rate), less pain, anxiety, and fatigue, and better overall positive and higher satisfaction with their recovery rooms than their counterparts in the control group without plants in their rooms.
An interesting note to this study—the majority of patients who had plants in their rooms reported that the plants were the most positive qualities of their rooms (93%), whereas patients without plants in their rooms said that watching television was the most favorable aspect of their rooms (91%).

The study suggests that potted plants offer the most benefit, as opposed to cut flowers, because of their longevity. Nursing staff reported that as patients recovered, they began to show interaction with the plants, including watering, pruning, and moving them for a better view or light. A number of studies have also shown that indoor plants make air healthier and provide an optimum indoor environment by increasing humidity, and reducing the quantity of mold spores and airborne germs.
This nonpharmacological approach to recovery is good news for patients, doctors, and insurers alike in terms of cost effectiveness and medical benefits. The study provides strong evidence that contact with plants is directly beneficial to patients’ health, providing meaningful therapeutic contact for patients recovering from painful surgery.

Adapted from materials provided by American Society for Horticultural Science, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Every once in a while I find something out there that strikes me and I have to share.

I have heard these stories before but always as "Don't tell anyone"stories as someone in these situations is ALWAYS embarrassed. This one I can share it's a doozie.

When DIY wedding flowers are a DIY- Don’t!
by Shannon on February 26, 2010
I have been having some fun by learning to be creative in a different direction- photography. One of my best friends is an amazing wedding photographer and she is mentoring me. The other day I went with her to a wedding to act as her second shooter. As I was done unloading the cameras, she came over to me and whispered, “Don’t tell them you are a florist.” Why? Because there was a major floral disaster happening in the kitchen of the bride’s home and my friend did not want to lose her second shooter if they enlisted me to help fix the problems.
We have all heard about it and in some cases, seen it. The DIY trend come home to roost. In this wedding’s case it was an Aunt that was a retired “florist”. I do not know what her background was, how long she was in the floral business or how long she was out of it, but this lady should have never undertaken the job of wedding day floral designer.
Some of the atrocities committed on this wedding:
Bridal bouquet had gerbera daisies wired down the stem with the wire sticking out of the bottom was snagging her dress. Brown and wilted callas. Phalaenopsis orchids clumsily wired into the bouquet were wilted and dead. Stem of the bridal bouquet was so large it resembled a “trunk”. Ribbon that was supposed to be ivory was yellow.
Bridesmaids bouquets had wire sticking out of the bottom of the stems. The red ribbon used to wrap the bouquets was not color fast and bled red dye all over their hands.
Flower girls’ headbands, had flowers sticking about 7 inches off the tops of their heads. Head band kept flopping off their heads and covering their eyes. The flower girls were given red rose petals to sprinkle down the aisle of the church. The red rose petals were crushed into the beige carpet leaving awful burgundy stains all over the church’s aisle.
Corsages were cymbidium orchids on the stem with a couple of pieces of sword fern just clamped into an elastic wrist-lette. The metal clamp and mechanics were exposed. The orchids broke off (because nothing was holding them in). Boutonnieres were roses with the blunt cut of the rose stem showing wrapped partially in ribbon secured with a pin that painfully stabbed anyone that hugged the guys.
At the reception each table was decorated differently (all 15 of them) with no sense of continuity (ended up looking like a garage sale). Large arrangements right in the guest’s line of sight. The water in vases was murky and cloudy.
Seeing all of this first hand really brought home how it is the little problems that can really add up and use up time on a day that is already short on time and so charged with emotion.
You can buy a book or watch a You Tube video to learn how to arrange flowers. But what about all of the other little things? Things a special event floral designer with years of experience knows how to avoid.
To spite all my advice I can understand why some brides will still go forward thinking they can design their own wedding flowers. Saving money is usually the deciding factor. I often advise budget brides to make their own centerpieces from items that can be put together well in advance of the wedding (Plants or candles are great choices for easy centerpieces) and have a reputable floral designer put together all of the personal flowers.
Are you unswayed or do you agree? Will you be putting together your own wedding flowers?

10 Days of Love

10 days of love for $40.00


Our target customer is a man, a man who loves his woman. She is the most important thing in the whole of his world and he always wants to make her feel special. He knows there is no greater feeling than receiving flowers with a heartfelt message attached. If the flowers get sent to her workplace, he knows she is going to be blushing in front of all of her friends and deep down she is going to feel so special. All the other girls are gushing and secretly wishing that their loved ones would show this public affection. The flowers get put somewhere in view of the whole office, everyone who comes into the office asks who they belong to and who they were from, making the whole day extra special.

When she goes home she spends time thinking about where they should go, which room are they going to compliment most? She decides the coffee table in the lounge is the perfect spot with perfect conditions. All week when she has house visitors, she is reminded that her man thinks the world of her...

What else can give you that feeling of complete love and thoughtfulness for at least 10 days?? Got you thinking?


Send her flowers........ the feeling of love will last forever...........

...or at least 10 days...

Your local florist can do all of this with a fresh and scrumptious bouquet.

Carey’s Flowers delivers love to: South Hadley, Amherst, Belchertown, Chicopee, Easthampton, Granby, Hadley, Holyoke, Northampton, Springfield, Southampton, West Springfield, Agawam, Feeding Hills, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Westfield,

Edible Flowers Part II

So the holidays are around the corner again and I am heading back to one of my favorite topics, eating flowers. As a small child I was fascinated with the idea of eating flowers. It seemed so exotic, fancy and down right cool. It was something only adults got to do and I wanted in on it. So as soon as I could convince an adult to let me try eating flowers I announced, “This is the best thing I ever ate!” I may have been exaggerating at the time but I still enjoy the beauty and ultimate coolness of eating flowers, which is why they show up every year on my holiday table.

Some Background: The culinary use of flowers dates back thousands of years. Many different cultures have used flowers in their traditional foods. The Chinese have been using daylilies, lotus & chrysanthemums for centuries. Italian & Hispanic cultures use stuffed squash blossoms. American colonists made violet vinegar & mutton broth with marigolds. Odysseus encountered the lotus-eating Sybarites on his way home from Troy. Dandelions were one of the bitter herbs referred to in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Flowers can be consumed raw, cooked, or infused in sauce. All edible flowers can be used as a decoration to a dish or on a tray. They add a distinctive color and taste to cakes, pastries & salads. Vinegar changes the color of the flowers, so it is best to serve the salad dressing on the side. Flowers add elegance to beverages when floating in a punch bowl or frozen in ice cubes. Edible flowers can also be used in teas.

Tips for Beginners

Do NOT eat flowers if you have hay fever, asthma or allergies.

Do NOT eat flowers obtained from a florist, nursery or garden center. Do NOT eat flowers growing on the side of the road

With the widespread use of pesticides by commercial growers, purchase edible flowers from a supplier who grows them specifically for consumption. Due to their popularity, many grocery stores & gourmet markets now sell edible flowers. It is most ideal to grow them yourself, so you know they are completely pesticide-free.

If you decide to grow your own flowers to eat, be certain you know your flowers since not all are edible. Some are poisonous.

Pick flowers on the day you are planning to use them. It is best to pick them in the morning or late afternoon when the water content is high.

Select flowers that are freshly opened avoid flowers that are not fully open (unless buds are desired) or those starting to wilt. Select flowers free of diseased spots or insect damage. Normally, the petals are the only parts to be eaten.

To maintain maximum freshness, keep flowers cool after harvest. Store your flowers, whole, in a container of water and place them in the refrigerator until you need to use them. Blooms and short-stemmed flowers can be kept fresh by laying them between layers of dampened paper-towel

Before use, wash flowers thoroughly in salt water. Perk them up by dropping them into a bowl of ice water for 30-60 seconds; then drain on paper towels. Remove all the green parts, stems and leaves, and any white 'heels' on petals since these parts can often be bitter

Petals can be stored for a day in a plastic bag in the refrigerator - but, ideally, you should use them within a few hours.

Introduce flowers into your diet one at a time in small quantities


How to Crystallize Flowers to Decorate Cakes & Candies: Combine one extra-large egg white (at room temperature) with a few drops of water and beat lightly until the white shows a few bubbles. Using a small paintbrush, paint a thin layer of egg white onto both sides of a clean, dry petal. Gently place the petal into a shallow bowl of superfine sugar to coat the bottom of the petal; sprinkle sugar on top to cover the top of the petal. Gently shake off any excess sugar. Lay the petal on waxed paper to dry. Let the flowers dry completely; they should be free of any moisture. This could take 8 to 36 hours.

A Partial Listing of Edible Flowers:

Anise Hyssop

Apple Bee Balm tea

Bergamot

Borage

Calendula

Chive

Chrysanthemum

Cornflower

Day Lily

Dianthus

English Daisy

Fuschia

Hollyhock

Johnny Jump-Ups

Lavender

Lilac

Mint

Nasturtium

Pansy

Peach

Plum

Prickly Pear

Rose

Rosemary

Sage

Signet Marigold

Squash Blossom

Violet

Yucca

Hippeastrums are big fat...

Hippeastrums are the big, fat, trumpet-shaped flowers that most of us (wrongly) still call Amaryllis. If you walk into our store we call them Amaryllis! Don’t worry were all on the same wrong page with beautiful superfluous flowers.

As crocus, daffs and tulips disappear from the shelves of our shop, these huge, beefy bulbs take their place. In flower, they look as though they've wandered off the set of Walt Disney's Fantasia. You can scarcely believe that any flower can be so vast, so stiff, so voluptuously unreal.

Once you get them started, they grow indoors at a phenomenal rate. You can buy them as extra presents for children, but pot them up and get them going before handing them over. From then on, there is enough action to engage children.

There was a time when hippeastrums, like potatoes, only came in two colors: white and a pleasingly shocking shade of red. The red was usually 'Red Lion' and the white 'Apple Blossom', which was actually a very pale pink. But partly because hippeastrums have recently become such popular cut flowers, there's been a very welcome explosion in the number of varieties available at this time of year. You can see why professional florists like hippeastrums so much. They last a long time in water and you don't need many of them to make a dramatic display.

You can experiment by planting the bulbs themselves in tall, thick glass vases. You need to be careful about watering, as there will no holes at the bottom like you would have in a pot, but the final effect is wonderful, very spare and spacey. Add slender twigs of beech, twisty willow or branches if you want a fuller effect. You can stick the twigs straight in the compost that is already there.

Big is not always best, but with hippeastrums, it pays to get top-size bulbs. Kits, containing pot (usually hideous), compost and bulb are not such good value as buying bulbs on their own. Check that each bulb is firm, that its nose is not damaged and that it has plenty of fleshy roots. Soak the roots for 12-24 hours, by balancing the bulb on top of a jar of tepid tap water. Do not get the base itself wet, or it may rot.

Choose 6” pots for smallish bulbs, 7” pots for medium-sized bulbs and 8” pots for big the biggest ones . You do not need to leave much space between the edge of the bulb and the edge of the pot, but the deeper the pot the better. Plastic is easier to manage than terracotta (though does not look as good). The pots must, of course have drainage holes.

The compost you use must be nutritious and free-draining. I have had decent results simply by mixing multipurpose compost with gravel or sand (two parts compost to one part gravel/sand). Add a slow-release fertiliser (such as Osmacote granules) to the mix.

Put a layer of your compost in the bottom of a pot. Hold the bulb in one hand with its roots hanging down and firm more compost round the roots. The nose of the bulb should poke up above the rim of the pot and its shoulders should be above the surface of the compost. Water with tepid water and put the pot in a warm, light, well-ventilated place, free from draftes . A temperature around 70 degrees is ideal.

Let the compost dry out on top before watering. Always water from the top, never from the bottom. Do not wet the nose of the bulb or allow the pot to stand in water for a long period. When the first shoot appears, start feeding by adding a liquid fertiliser when you water. Give the pot a quarter turn each day to keep the stems growing straight. You may need to stake them as they grow. When the buds start to open, move the pot to a cooler place so the flowers last as long as possible. Suppliers suggest that hippeastrums will come into flower six to eight weeks after planting. They have never been that fast for me. ten weeks plus is more realistic maybe it’s a New England thing

Cut Flower Tips

We at Carey’s Flowers hope that you will always enjoy your flower purchases. You have spent your hard earned money on something of beauty and you will want the flowers to last as long as possible. Your flowers will need your help if they are going to give you their all. Here are some tips for you to help them out.

Flower Arrangements

Many arrangements are sent out in boxes, remove this box as soon as the flowers have reached their final destination.

We advise placing all arrangements on a small tablemat of some sort and not directly on any polished surface.

If your flowers have been arranged in florists foam it is harder to see that the water level may be low. For this reason watering every day is best. Water slowly through the center of the arrangement while inserting the index finger of your free hand down inside of the arrangement to feel the water level, this will help avoid spills.

If your flowers arrive in a vase be careful vases can ‘sweat’ and leave a small puddle on surfaces. Changes in temperature cause vases to sweat, here in New England changes in temperature from indoor to outdoor can be drastic and happen year round. With a glass vase it is easier to see when water levels go down but it has been my experience that people just let the water sit and run out. This severely shortens the life of your flowers I hope you don’t buy a new car and let the gas run out. So watering each day with fresh clean water (from the tap is fine) is the very best thing you can do for your flowers. The water should never dip down below the neck of the vase.

Cut Flowers

Carefully remove all wrapping materials the flowers have come in.

Clean your vase thoroughly using hot water and soap the best practice is to then rinse with water that you have put a tablespoon of bleach into. The bleach kills any bacteria on the inside of the vase and flowers live longer in a bacteria free environment. Then fill the vase ¾ of the way with cool water that has been mixed with the flower food sachet you received with your flowers.

Carefully remove any leaves from the stems that may be below the water line of your vase; these leaves will decompose and contaminate the water and can shorten the life of your flowers. This decomposition also causes what I like to call ‘water funk’ this is when your flowers look fine but there is a funny smell about them. That’s the leaves decomposing and the water getting stale. Why would you want beautiful flowers that stink yuk.

Holding the bouquet up to the vase will help you determine the length you will need to cut the stems to. With a clean knife (cleaned with bleach) cut stems at a 45-degree angle. Place immediately into water in vase.

Once the bouquet has been placed into the vase check that is sits in proportion to the vase. The flowers should not tower over the vase this is the perfect recipe for the vase to tip over and then you have a big mess and no pretty flowers.

When the flowers are in correct proportion fill the vase the rest of the way with your water / flower food mix.

Choosing the right place in your home for your flowers is key. Many people have said to me “I like them on top of the TV so I can see them all the time” BAD choice! The television gives off too much heat for cut flowers. Place flowers in a cool place, away from heating or cooling vents, appliances, direct sunlight (picture window are a no no) or drafts.

Keep cut flowers away form ripening fruit. As fruit ripens it gives off ethylene gas with causes flowers to rot and die quickly.

Add water daily. Add water daily. Add water daily.

General Cautions

Lily pollen can stain. In case of contact dab affected area with tape wrapped sticky side out around your hand, DO NOT rub! Do NOT use water! Follow up with a stain removing pre-treatment before washing any cloth items.

All berries can stain and may NOT be eaten.

Wash your hands thoroughly after arranging your flowers, some flowers have sap which can irritate sensitive skin.

www.careysflower.com

Flowers should not apologize

I was going to post another wedding themed item today, but I just read this great article bt John DeVore and I could not resist sharing it.

Men should buy women flowers.

Men should buy women flowers. They are colorful. They smell nice. And without them, flora would never get laid. To many, purchasing flowers is cliché or corny or tacky. And to others, it's an outdated ritual in our modern era of gender equality.

Flowers should not apologize; they should symbolize some wonderful thoughts about the woman.
I'd like to address the men reading this (all five of you): buy the broads flowers. Trust me. And now to all the women reading, who outnumber us dudes 100 to 1: allow the dorks in your life to buy you flowers. Trust me.

Flowers are not a romantic punchline, nor are they a symbol of patriarchal dominance. Buying daisies or lilies or chrysanthemums for the woman you love is one of those things a man just regularly does. This is a lesson my old man taught me.

Maybe it hearkens back to a time when men were gorillas in gray suits and women were trophies soaking their hands in bowls of Palmolive liquid soap -- a time when flowers were employed to mend broken promises, to make up for forgotten dinner dates, or to apologize for lipstick-stained shirt collars.

Those days are in the past, of course. Flowers do not resolve conflicts, nor do they anesthetize. Now that I think about it, they never did. But my dad had a different reasoning for surprise roses. He was always buying my mom flowers, chocolates, and trinkets. Her absentminded whispers while leafing through a catalog would be heard and little surprise gifts would appear at the doorstep.

Most of what I know about women I learned from how my dad treated my mother. I'd be a better man if I followed his example more fastidiously, but I haven't, and that's partially why I've spent so many years driving relationships off of cliffs. But some lessons stick out.
Theirs was a love affair that lasted four decades. He would sing to her in public, and she'd blush and beg for him to stop. They never seemed to tire of each others' gentle words. And 45 minutes after he died, on my mother's birthday, FedEx walked into the ICU with her present -- a fancy brand-name bag that escapes me, but that I'm pretty sure is sold in piles on the streets of New York.

While my mother was in a street fight with doctors (and a dependably cruel universe) for every dwindling minute of my dad's life, he had been sitting up in his hospital bed, buying her something he knew she'd love.

My dad knew that buying a gift for that person who'll laugh at your terrible jokes, kiss you with lips and breath, and hold your hand as a needle searches for your vein is just a way of saying "I'm thinking about you when you're not here."

And that's what flowers are, just a simple, easy way of letting someone know they were in your thoughts. That's it. It's not complicated. Flowers announce: out of sight, still in my mind and heart. It is unerringly human to want to know that someone is thinking about you when you are not around.

I think women, especially, worry that all men have short attention spans and for the most part -- Oh hey! When did I buy this can of beans? -- it's not an unfounded anxiety. I know I've forgotten things like birthdays (spring?), anniversaries (Tuesday?) and eye color (mostly white?).

But if a man is in love, he carries that love under his skin like a nerve. Such is the magnificence of man, however, that we're solidly confidant that your every third thought is about us. Right? Right? Oh, sarcasm! Women are the more conscientious gender; men are the more eat-with-our-fingers gender. I think that is fair

I recently bought flowers for a lady I'm a' courting. We were set to meet at the soda jerk for a malt before skipping over for a double-feature monster movie at the picture palace. I had been thinking of her all day, anticipating the date. She's out of my league and that's how it should be. It's never too late to relearn passed-down life lessons. I was nervous, and couldn't shake her freaking beautiful face out from behind my eyelids.

So I did what my dad would have done. What a man does. I stormed into a florist's shop, picked out a bunch of suitably fragrant flowers, paid for them, and marched right back outside. A man with a bouquet of flowers is a real man.

I carried them the way you'd carry a rifle at a firing range with the barrel pointed down. I received multiple dude nods from men I walked past. They were acknowledging that I was on my way to woo a woman, which is our primary programming. I even received an approving nod from a pair of lesbians who also knew I was doing my duty.

I mean, it was just a date. And the vegetation cost me all of ten bucks. The plants would be dead within a week anyway. But at least she would know that for that day, her name barely escaped my lips.