“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.”

According to a behavioral research conducted at a State University in New Jersey, one way of improving the emotional state of a person – is by sending flowers. It is believed that the presence of flowers can stimulate happy feelings, and brings about positive effects on one’s social behavior and emotional being.

Here are some of my favorite flower photographs. Seeing them doesn’t require a study to convince me that they can alleviate one’s mood. These flowers are indeed nature’s way of laughing and providing laughter to people around them.

TULIPS: These flowers are often associated with Holland/ Netherlands. But do you know that they actually originated from Turkey? This quintessential spring flower, is colorful, cheerful, and a sign that warm weather is finally coming. One of the largest groups of tulip varieties, the Triumph tulip, is a classic. It is sturdy and great for cutting but also creates beautiful borders and clumps in spring flower beds and comes in a wide range of colors.

Tulips at Emirgan Park in Istanbul, Turkey during the annual tulip festival.

ROSES. The National Flower of Morocco. Roses are considered the floral symbol of Morocco since there is a rose festival in the country every year. Roses are not just decorative flowers, but they actually have a number of health benefits too. Here are some interesting facts about the rose.

• There are about 100 rose species and they have different colors, shapes and grow in different climates.
• The most common species of roses is Tea Rose.
• Roses were of great importance to Romans and Egyptians.
• In ancient Rome, roses were grown in order to ensure that there was a yearlong supply of ingredients for cooking, ornaments and medicinal extracts.

SWEET ALISON. aka sweet alyssum or Lobularia maritima — a mat-forming annual or short-lived perennial native to the Mediterranean, and the Iberian peninsula (specially the Canary Islands and Azores), where it grows along the coast in rocky, sunny areas. Some says that the flowers and leaves are edible and can be added to salads, and the plant has been used medicinally in the past but people with sensitive skin may develop a rash when handling the plant, so it is probably best not ingested. This herbaceous plant in the mustard family is commonly used as a bedding plant, and is widely available in market packs at nurseries and garden centers in the spring.

PURPLE FOXGLOVE. From among the flowers I opted to feature in this post, this one is the closest to my heart as I have studied about this flower since my Pharmacy years at the university. My love for Pharmacognosy as a subject is due to interesting plants like the foxglove. The common foxglove, (Digitalis purpurea), is a biennial or short-lived herbaceous perennial from the figwort (some says, its plantain) family). This pretty plant is such a wonder as it is the source of various cardiac (heart) stimulants like digitoxin or digoxin, digitalin, and digitonin (collectively called cardiac glycosides) that are now used in modern medicine in the preparation of the drug digitalis.

Enjoy these lovely visual therapy! Take it easy everyone.