Why Flowers Are The Greatest Mood Elevators In The World?

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

“Daffodils“, this wonderful poem that emerged from the thoughts of the famous poet, William Wordsworth, speaks volumes about the therapeutic value of the beauty of flowers, any flower for that matter.

So Why Flowers Are The Greatest Mood Elevators In The World? Flowers and the innocent smiles of children act as a soothing balm on stressed minds. However tired or worried or irritated you may be both have a dramatic effect in elevating your mood.

Isn’t it one of the greatest miracles of nature, that flowers which are so fragile and so ephemeral leave behind an undying imprint of their color, beauty and fragrance?

Given our love for flowers we always try to visit places where we can see flowers in plentitude, whether it be Keukenhof in Holland, Sim’s Park in Coonoor or  Lal Bagh in Bangalore. In this post, we take you on an intoxicating voyage to one of the flower shows in Lal Bagh.

What is Lal Bagh?

Lal Bagh, which literally means Red Gardens in English is a 240 acre botanical garden situated in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, a southern state of India. This building of this garden was commissioned by Hyder Ali in 1760, but it was completed by his son, Tipu Sultan. The garden is home to over a 1000 species of flora and also has trees that are centuries old. Within its premises the garden also has a rock formation said to be one of the oldest on earth which dates back to over 3,000 million years. The Lal Bagh also houses a famous glass house which is the venue for two annual flower shows, on India’s Republic Day (26th January) and India’s Independence Day (15th August).

Flowery moments from the flower shows in Lal Bagh

This post is more about our love for flowers and our flowery moments in Lal Bagh rather than about the garden itself, we reserve that for some other time.

So here we go with some lovely moments which uplifted our moods and flew us far, far away on the wings of imagination. Please do not ask us for the botanical names or even the common names of the flowers, as we plead ignorance, but what we do know is that they  captivated our hearts just as the fluttering Daffodils captivated Wordsworth’s heart.

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. ~Iris Murdoch

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. ~ Luther Burbank

You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. ~ Walter Hagen

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. ~ Martin Luther

Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts. ~ Sigmund Freud

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Thus, having lost all sense of time and space we wandered in this wonderland of beauty, colors and fragrances, we roamed ecstatically oblivious to everything else but the beauty of these wonderful gifts from God. But soon evening was upon us and we bade a silent adieu to these wonderful creatures and with a glance at the rock that has stood in this place for a well nigh 3,000 million years, we made our way home not with stars in our eyes, but with flowers in them!

Do watch these videos of Flower show at Lalbagh Botanical Garden (Courtesy: YAR Channel )

Flower show at Lalbagh Botanical Garden – 1
Flower show at Lalbagh Botanical Garden – 2

What emotions flowers evoke in you?

Please share your flowery moments and spread the fragrance.