A Bouquet of Happiness: Buying Flowers During Wintertime

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Spring is not the only time of the year to buy flowers. From bringing vibrant color to your space and boosting positive energy, flowers have a multitude of benefits to offer in the winter. So, with the winter blues looming above us, now might be the perfect time to pick up a bouquet the next time you see one.

It’s a well-known fact that flowers are pleasing to the eye. What if VALLEY told you it goes deeper than that? In a study conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Ellison Chair in International Floriculture, it was found that flowers bring us happiness, on the level of brain chemistry.

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The study found that, “Keeping flowers around the home and in the workplace greatly reduces a person’s stress levels. Natural aesthetic beauty is soothing to people, and keeping ornamental flowers around the home environment is an excellent way to lower levels of stress and anxiety. People who keep flowers in their home feel happier, less stressed, and more relaxed. As a result of the positive energy they derive from the environment, the chances of suffering from stress-related depression are decreased as well.”

The research concluded that, “Overall, adding flowers to your home or work environment reduces your perceived stress levels and makes you feel more relaxed, secure, and happy. Flowers can help you achieve a more optimistic outlook on your life, bringing you both pleasing visual stimulation and helping you to increase your perceived happiness.”

This research is important to remember, as in the wintertime, college students experience heightened levels of stress. With that stress comes the possibility of SAD, also known as seasonal affective disorder. Flowers may be a way for some to cope with these feelings.

According to Timely MD, the most difficult months for SAD are January and February. People with SAD experience symptoms such as a loss of interest in activities that a person once enjoyed, changes in sleep patterns and an overall loss of energy.

With that in mind and the research as seen above, when you bring flowers and natural elements into your environment, you are creating a warm and welcoming space — a space that has the opportunity to reduce stress levels.

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The winter months tend to bring us more stress and worry. It can feel like spring break is light years away, that the sun is missing from State College and that days seem to be operating on a continuous loop. However, as seen from this research, flowers can bring us pockets of peace, lighting up not only our space, but our soul, invigorating warm fuzzy feelings that are amiss.

So, if you’re looking for places to buy flowers, grocery stores regularly sell various types of bouquets and plants. Also, look toward local farms and markets as well.

When it comes to picking the flowers out, the selection might be slightly different that what you would find during the spring and summer, due to varying types of weather and the availability of sun. According to House Beautiful, some flowers that thrive during the winter months include black tulips, snowdrops, daffodils, pieris, winter jasmine and hellebores.

Do you like buying flowers during the colder months? Share your thoughts by tagging @valleymag on Instagram.

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