Happiness is in the plants

This text is courtesy of Mélanie Grégoire, horticulturist

I have always been surrounded by plants. My father's crassula, my mother's amaryllis, my sister's peony, and my own little seedlings. Cultivating plants, pampering them, talking to them brings me a lot of happiness and pleasure. But did you know that this feeling of well-being is not just a simple feeling? It is now proven that plants promote well-being and therefore happiness!

In 2019, a review listed more than 50 studies on the benefits of houseplants. It is NASA, the American space agency, which started the ball rolling with a study on air quality. It has been proven that certain plants help in a significant way to clean the air of some pollutants found in our homes, in particular formaldehyde, benzene and trichlorethylene. As a result of this discovery, other studies have been conducted, highlighting other positive aspects that plants exert on us.

The positive effects of plants on us

They reduce psychological and physiological stress.

Playing in dirt is good for morale, according to studies on young adults. Researchers gave control groups various tasks to perform. Participants who had to take care of a green plant saw their blood pressure and stress decrease, in addition to feeling a sense of well-being and seeing their mood improve. Interaction with indoor plants can therefore reduce psychological and physiological stress compared to mental work.

They improve recovery after surgery.

Green plants and flowers have a positive effect on our recovering loved ones. During my son's hospitalization, I was able to appreciate this power by cultivating my vegetable garden between each of my visits. After each gardening session, I came back with a much calmer and serene attitude.

A Korean study on 80 hospitalized women has also proven that patients who were placed in rooms with indoor plants and flowers had a shorter hospital stay, took fewer painkillers, felt less pain, anxiety and fatigue, and they had more positive emotions!

They increase creativity and productivity in the office and at home

Green plants are beautiful, they are alive, and they listen to us without saying anything. It is a natural setting that soothes. It partitions without closing everything, it personalizes a space. I have started several conversations with colleagues by telling them about the plant on their desk, it is always a good way to start the conversation.

According to an American study, students had to perform tasks on the computer, in the presence or not of houseplants in rooms without windows. In the presence of plants, participants were more creative and productive and less stressed, since their blood pressure was lower than without indoor plants. Do not hesitate, green your interior and love your plants madly, they will give you back a hundredfold!

3 plants to adopt for the home or office

bébé plate

The plant to share

You read correctly! The plant to share, from its Latin name Pilea peperomioides multiplies easily, because small babies grow on the top of the ground and are easy to remove and replant. Easy to maintain, the round leaves are reminiscent of water lily leaves. Medium light, let dry well between waterings.

The monstera

The Monstera deliciosa is a social media star, thanks to its heavily cut, holey leaves. Rest assured if you adopt a baby monstera and its leaves are not perforated: this characteristic appears as the plant grows. Medium brightness, offer it a tutor to see it grow in height. At maturity, the plant can be more than a meter high and wide.

The Pothos

Hanging or climbing plant, it's your choice! The Pothos is fast growing and can grow equally well in high light, medium light or even low light (however, its growth will be slower). A plant considered for beginners because it is so easy to grow, there are now very decorative versions with colored leaves of white, yellow, lime and green.

The month of Baby plants

The month of Baby plants was born following the premature birth of Laurent, the son of Mélanie Grégoire, at only 30 weeks in April 2020. Laurent and his family spent more than 2 months in the neonatal care department, during which he suffered from several complications. But thanks to research, he was able to be saved and lives today.

6 Baby plants are available exclusively at IGA, from March 1 to 31, 2023. $9.99 each, and all proceeds will be donated to neonatology research: