What's the point of sending flowers this Mother's Day?

The world is a busy place and we are bombarded with information. Sometimes it's important to take a step back and breathe. My recent operation has given me time to reflect on what happening in the world. One of my questions is: with everything else going on, are flowers actually important any more?

Obviously there's the biological need for them in plant reproduction and the creation of seeds and fruits, but are they still relevant to us in terms of gifting? 

Many people seem happy enough with artificial flowers. These days, you're more likely to see artificial flowers in restaurants, hotels and shop windows than real ones, and a lot of people choose them to have in the home. I can see that they provide the impact and showiness and pass for real flowers at a glance, and for some their longevity outweighs authenticity. But, for me, they don't touch my soul and their plastic fakeness and lack of character and scent is enough to leave me cold.

Real flowers take effort. They need soil and water and sunshine. They take skill to cultivate, protect, nurture and grow. They must be cut at the right time, 'conditioned' in the cool and dark before being arranged and given with love, received with joy and cared for in the home until ultimately they die and can be composted to return to the soil and provide the nutrition for new plants to grow.

The point about real flowers is that they are alive and that they are fleeting. They are to be enjoyed for the now. They are a reminder of the beauty of life, and that we must notice it and value it right now while we have the chance. At the end of my Dad's life, admiring and smelling and flowers up close became one of the last most significant and joyful things we did together.

Flowers can be a comfort for many and are often with us at important moments in our lives, such as birthdays, weddings and funerals, and they help us to punctuate these moments so that we take notice of them and recognise them as important moments.

If you are lucky enough to receive flowers this Mother's Day, I hope they help you to slow down and celebrate the day and to feel even closer to those that gave them to you. To take the time to love real flowers is to feel alive. Happy Mother's Day!

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