Choosing the best flowers for your sick friend

When friend or a family member is sick, we generally want to wish them well. We want them to get well faster by being happy and cheerful as being happy and optimistic is one of the best ways to beat any kind of sickness. For this reason, most visitors will prefer to carry brightly colored toys, cars, gifts, fruits and flowers to cheer up the convalescent. Get well soon flowers especially can really lift the mood and health of a person simply because of their bright color and wonderful fragrance.

Get well soon flowers can increase life satisfaction: Fact not fiction

A study carried out by Dr. Haviland-Jones and his team of Rutgers researchers in 2000 has actually proved that brightly colored and perfumed flowers can improve a person’s outlook on life. Flowers can immediately improve mood, reduce anxiousness about surgeries and sickness, reduce post-surgical depression and cause an immediate smile on the patients’ face. In fact, most researchers have stated that it is better for convalescing patients to receive flowers rather than fruit and sweet baskets and gifts. A sick person recovering from an illness will be on a severely restricted diet and mobility regime. They will not be able to enjoy fruits and sweets or even gifts but the visual and olofactory excitation offered by flowers can help the patient. Doctors have noted that patients who get flowers during their recovery period are more likely to have lower blood pressure, lower post operative pain, increased healing and a lower need for painkillers

So what type of get well soon flowers would be best?

You have to remember that it is a hospital setting. You don’t want to gift flowers that might cause allergies or even adverse reactions. As a result, we suggest you start with these following tips while choosing get well soon flowers.

Allergen free - Buy flowers which have a very low pollen value count. That means, the flowers you choose should release very few seeds inside the hospital room. The best low-pollen count flowers include roses, chrysanthemums and carnations which are also traditionally gifted as get-well-soon flowers.

Bright cheerful colors – It’s easy to find flowers nowadays that are bursts of colors but which have a very low pollen count. Hydrangeas, azaleas, pansies and multi-colored roses are ideal for get well soon flowers as they come in a range of colors and size. Roses especially come in thousands of varieties that can be combined in a really beautiful effect. Cabbage roses and tea roses come in a huge range of varieties and they are truly beautiful with a minimal fragrance that will not aggravate a convalescent.

Woody stems – Flowers with a woody stem are more likely to survive for a longer time in the hospital room. Nurses and hospital attendants don’t really have the time to change the water in the vases and it would help if you would pick beautiful but hardy flowers which will last for a long time. We suggest you ask your florist about the best hardy flowers for a sick person.

Send a vase – Hospital attendants don’t have the time to take care of flower arrangements. Try to send a hardy plastic vase or a metal and tin vase along with the flower bouquet. This looks beautiful and the patient can reuse it later on.

House plants and flowers – Yes, we know that flowers have the best visual appeal but you should also consider gifting a flowering plant for the convalescent. Not only will a plant last longer but it will also remind the person of your goodwill.

Although you can really gift any variety, we suggest you pick safe and hardy flowers that will last for a long time. If possible, send a tiny arrangement to the hospital but a larger one for when the patient returns home. This way the person does not have to worry about packing your flowers and taking them home and they have something beautiful waiting for them when they return.