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On Flowers

3/12/2017

14 Comments

 
Picture
So, I happened to get behind this van the other day.
 
Even in the smallish beach town where I live, it isn’t unusual to be out and about without at least a few cars ahead on the road.   I don’t usually pay a whole lot of attention to traffic since I’m zipping along nicely and listening to the radio, or more frequently these days, reining in random thoughts about resisting and uniting. 
 
But the little mini-van caught my attention for One Big Happy Reason.
 
Its back end was completely painted with flowers. 
 
Crazy colorful blossoms, too—peonies and roses and crocuses, and one of my very favorites, fat yellow Gerber daisies.  Although I didn’t see the driver’s face this time, I’ve noticed the vehicle around our streets, and the person who’s always at its helm.  She’s a local farmer named Debbie, and her roadside stand occasionally has the eggs and sunflowers I like.  But mostly, her income comes from a floral design company.
 
I haven’t yet had the occasion to do business with her in this way.  But her truck reminded me of how much I have come to need—not merely want—flowers in my daily life.  
 
Probably because my parents worked with an insanely tight budget, there weren’t any store bought blooms hanging around in vases during my childhood.  We did have a struggling lilac bush and pussy willow plant in our big back yard, and white azaleas and pink poppies that bloomed in spring and summer.  However, those branches and blossoms rarely made it into the house. 
 
Making do on an even smaller stipend in college, there weren’t flowers here either.
 
But then, after I moved to New York City, my relationship with flora took a dramatic turn.
 
For one thing, flowers here were, literally, in your face.  There were (and are) vibrant stands
on nearly every corner. 
 
Also, these buds were cheap: for a few dollars, or often less, one or two could be all yours.
 
This meant that even when my roommate and I only had change for a carnation or two (like so many who move to New York, we were poor: Cool Whip containers were our dishes and sleeping bags were our beds), we always had at least one stem in water.  And while we didn’t know exactly why, they always made our empty space feel better.  However, we did come up with a theory: flowers sold well because they made millions of dismal apartments like ours a little more livable.    
​
By the time I returned to California four years later, I had enough dough to buy bunches and bunches of carnations every week at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.  But I don’t remember having many flowers around when my daughter was tiny; there was just so much to do, not to mention that roaming toddlers, glass vases and cold water aren’t a good mix. 
 
Where I live now is awash in farmland of all kinds; in fact, when I first moved here, one nearby field was a blanket of marmalade colored marigolds for months at a time.  I’d sigh with pleasure when I drove by, knowing how blessed I was to call this home. There are lots of farmers’ markets around, too, and they all have flowers.  And of course, there’s our nearby supermarket, where I recently scored a handful of lemony daffodils. 
 
As it turns out, flowers make most people feel good. 
 
To clarify, I’m not thinking of the extraordinary medicinal power of flowers—that subject could easily be another essay.    
Instead, I’m thinking of the positive way a simple bouquet sways our emotions.     
 
Indeed, a blogger affiliated with a florist in Corvallis, Oregon, reports that flowers make us feel right because they connect us to nature.  Consequently, being in this happy place makes us less reactive to the stresses of the fast-paced environments most of us operate in.  The article also states that flowers’ beautiful colors help reduce anxiety and apprehension—making us feel more grounded, more cheerful, and more inclined to connect with those around us.    
 
A 2005 study at the Human Emotions Lab (now, there’s a place to visit) at Rutgers University went a few steps further. 
 
In a double-blind study, facial expressions of research participants were measured when presented with three different gifts: a decorative candle, a fruit basket and a flower bouquet.  In every case, recipients responded to the flowers with what’s called a Duchenne smile—a heartfelt, “true” smile involving the mouths, cheeks and eyes.  None of the other offerings produced this across-the-board response.  This was also not the expected conclusion; in fact, the expert who created and administered the study had never before seen a 100 percent response rate with any other test.
 
But of course, we don’t really need science to tell us how flowers make most of us feel inside.
 
So, next time you see a bunch of pretty blossoms calling your name, buy them. 
 
They’ll do way more than make you smile.  They’ll also do your heart, and your mind, a whole lot of good.
 
What’s your favorite flower, and what’s the story behind that?  As always, I welcome your comments!  
14 Comments
Jackie
3/12/2017 05:20:02 pm

I always tell my kids, "Buy me flowers now; not when I'm dead." If they don't, Trader Joe's always fits the bill with a bunch of colorful tulips. And with Winter Storm Stella gearing up to hit the Northeast on Tuesday...yes, flowers are a requisite for us spring-starved folks.

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Hilary
3/12/2017 06:26:39 pm

Like every other supermarket, Trader Joe's knows all about placement. The flowers there are right when you walk in the store. Even if you don't buy any right then and there, they'll put a smile on your face and perhaps, make you buy more stuff then you were going to buy. :)

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Susan Jordan
3/12/2017 05:42:10 pm

I love bright, colorful flowers best in big swaths along the road or in a meadow. My neighbors have some growing on the parkway and up in their planter, and they always cheer me up. Sometimes I'll see a lot of them planted along the freeway. Those are an unexpected treat! Sunflowers are my favorite flower in the world; I cannot be uncheerful around sunflowers! Any bright, beautiful flowers do that. :) 🌺

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Hilary
3/12/2017 06:27:53 pm

I feel the exact same way about sunflowers. They're my go-to flower and are pretty much available year round.

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Heather Risinger
3/13/2017 08:16:45 pm

Yep I so agree! I love flowers, they can change my mood instantly, I often stop at Trader Joes to grab a bunch. I think my favorites are hawaiian looking ones, but I love bunched up roses, and well, I just love whatever is speaking to me in the moment.

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Hilary
3/13/2017 09:32:36 pm

I always say I have favorite flowers, and I do, but sometimes it's the color that speaks to me more than anything. I bought some lemon yellow peonies today at our farmers' market; looking at them just makes me happy!

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leslie spoon
3/13/2017 09:02:07 pm

Hilary The flowers this time of year are beautiful and always get my mind in a more positive state. We are so lucky to live here!

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Hilary
3/13/2017 09:33:12 pm

Yes, we ARE. :)

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Jim Nolt
3/14/2017 10:09:16 am

Hilary, this recent blog brought back some almost-forgotten memories. You probably know I grew up on a farm. Crops such as corn and potatoes usually come to mind when one thinks of a farm... and we did grow those items. But for the 4-H Club to which I belonged, I also grew flowers. I wasn't particularly fond of them at the time, but I did win a few ribbons. Your mention of a pussy willow tree also brought to mind our tree out near the barn. I was especially fond of little fuzzies and I used to break some branches off to take to my first grade teacher, Miss Miller, who put them in water and set them on her desk. Last summer when my sister and I visited the old homestead, I pointed to where my pussy willow tree used to be, and my sister remarked, "Oh yes... that's where the outhouse used to stand." No wonder it grew so well.

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Hilary
3/14/2017 12:14:48 pm

Ha! Our pussy tree wasn't near anything like that, plus, my mom planted it in a very shady spot. I'm amazed that we ever got *any* little fuzzies at all! The lilac bush was right next to it, and we never got anything there either. My mom used to say, "Well, that's because they had them in Ohio; they just won't grow here." YEARS later, I would buy huge bunches of lilacs every spring at a farm about 30 minutes from the Unsolved office My mom always said she had a "black thumb" and she was right! Of course, no Internet back then to tell her the best places to plant these two things. I think it's great that 4-H also, on some level, understood the necessity of flowers. : )

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Kari
3/19/2017 08:35:24 am

I was thinking back to my childhood, and sadly do not remember flowers around the concrete jungle I lived in. I am so thankful to be living here on the Central Coast now where there is so much scenic beauty around. I love flowers but prefer plants where they can continue living versus a vase but occasionally my husband will bring me home my favorite pink roses. Also, I found it interesting your use of the word Duchenne since the only time I've heard it is when Jared got diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. I am glad to see the name used as such and not just with a fatal disease. I always love to read your blog and stroll down memory lane with you.

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Hilary Grant
3/19/2017 09:50:54 pm

Oh, I love pink flowers! (Pink and yellow were my wedding colors--so cheerful!) I have a lot of living plants as well, but not as many as I used to have in college... those years saw a huge market for houseplants like coleus, spider, wandering Jew and prayer plants. I do have a big spider on my front porch, my mom's orchid plants and some geraniums. Plus roses out front--many pink! :)

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George Marshall link
3/29/2017 01:14:34 pm

I am of an age and of a mental disposition where favorites of anything in the realm of 'taste', whether of the senses or the mind, is just too difficult for me to choose. It depends on the day and the hour. But in this field in particular, having spent the greater part of my life as a gardener and in midst of flowers, it is a virtual impossibility. However, thankfully, there is a royal hierarchy of the floral kingdom and the queen of all flowers is the The Rose. It is also with me a personal favorite especially the original five petaled kind. 🌹

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Hilary
3/29/2017 01:39:00 pm

Roses, I think, are still the most popular bouquet at weddings; because I wanted to be different, I went with daisies and sweet peas. BUT I have about 10 rose bushes leading to my front door; I purchased them all as bare roots and they are flourishing, especially with the recent rains. I love the subtle and varied scents! I also have an orchid on a kitchen window sill that has buds. OH, and I love violets, too. You're right--it's tough, if not impossible, to choose a favorite! : )

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    Hilary Roberts Grant

    Journalist, editor, filmmaker, foodie--and a clown! 
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