Flowering Plants Speed Recovery from Surgery

If you want to help speed the recovery of a hospital patient who’s had surgery, bring a flowering plant, preferably a potted plant, suggests a recent study by the Department of Horticulture, Recreation, and Forestry at Kansas State University. When 90 patients recovering from an appendectomy were randomly assigned to rooms with and without flowering plants, those who stayed in the rooms with the plants reported less need for medication, lower blood pressure and heart rate, less pain, and less anxiety and fatigue, as well as better overall recovery than those staying in rooms without flowering plants. The authors of the study suggest that the better option is to give flowering potted plants, as opposed to cut flowers, because the plants last longer. (American Society for Horticultural Science, Dec. 2008)