It's official: plants boost mental health and make us feel more connected with nature!

Greener front gardens can cut down on stress as much as eight weekly mindfulness sessions, according to new research by the Royal Horticutural Society (RHS). 

With today marking World Mental Health Day, it's a timely reminder of the value of plants and access to nature in our everyday lives.

This month, the RHS, in collaboration with the Universities of Sheffield, Westminster and Virginia, published its findings into a groundbreaking research project, measuring the effects of greener front gardens on people's stress levels. 

During the four year study, 42 residents in a deprived part of Manchester in the UK received a tree, a shrub, a climber, bedding plants, bulbs and sub-shrubs to brighten up their previously bare gardens. 

 Before receiving the plants, less than a quarter of participants had healthy levels of cortisol, the “fight or flight” hormone associated with stress. In just a year, this had increased to over a half. 

The news may not come as much of a surprise to horticulturalists. 

You can teach an old dog new tricks! 

Confession: I was once so rubbish with plants that I managed to kill a supposedly indestructible cactus! I had the reverse of the Midas touch when it came to gardening. Everything I touched turned to manure! 

My notoriety with plants spread like weeds. I was banned from hedge trimming and when anyone gifted me a pot plant, I would secretly cringe, wondering how many days it had left on this earth… 

Notice, however, that I'm talking in the past tense. I was rubbish with plants. Spectacularly so. I felt sorry for any that came into my “care”. I mostly killed them with kindness, freaking out so much about neglecting them (like that poor cactus) to the point where I'd over water them. 

 But over the past couple of years I've definitely improved. And during lockdown I educated myself about plants and have been on a mission to transform my garden gradually, adding wildflowers and bee pollinators.

Slowly, my confidence in my gardening abilities has grown. Blossomed even! I'm still far from green-fingered but I'm no longer the horticultural butcher either! 

It's given me so much joy to see beautiful blooms pop out when I least expect them, sometimes ages after I think they'll emerge! Half the time I've forgotten exactly what I've planted, so it's a total surprise when seedlings pop up! That's half the fun.

So I totally understand how surrounding yourself with greenery can be great for your mental health.

Similarly, immortalising blooms in resin to wear around my wrist, ears or neck, or to enjoy in paperweights and coasters, is so therapeutic. 

Paperweight by Tallulah does the Hula

I'm definitely a summer bunny at heart – so having a piece of English meadow to enjoy year round is definitely great for the soul. Especially as the nights draw in.

Meadow bangle by Tallulah does the Hula

From the rugged Scottish Highlands to the flat Fens: my latest bangle collection celebrates the beautiful Sound of Mull

Fabulous friends give you flowers. But it takes a really special mate to handpick and dry your favourite wildflowers and transport them 500 miles.

Luckily for me, I have that one in a million friend. 

The lovely Helen was happy to oblige during her annual trip to see family in the stunning Sound of Mull in the Scottish Highlands.

The stunning Sound of Mull. Picture by Helen Bennion

She gathered a posy of crocosmia, purple loosestrife, sea campion, red campion, red clover, bird's foot trefoil, sea aster, silverweed, valerian, meadowsweet, heather, ferns and moss from her family's property.

Wildflowers and ferns from the Sound of Mull. Picture by Helen Bennion

The delicate foliage was carefully dried before being transported 500 miles or so, from the rugged West Coast of Scotland to the flat Fens in the East of England.

I am so very grateful to Helen for these exquisite blooms! 

They were an absolute delight to put into a variety of bangles, which are now available in my Etsy shop.

The rugged coastline in Helen's photos and the delicate blooms, ferns and moss that are indigenous to this phenomenal coastline remind me of some of the scenery in New Zealand. Considering the climate and Lord of the Rings-esque landscape, this isn't entirely surprising.

The Sound of Mull. Picture by Helen Bennion.

I haven't been to my other home (New Zealand) in five or so years and I miss it terribly. With little sign of the Covid situation improving anytime soon across the globe (NZ being one of the most impressive countries to control its spread), it doesn't look like a visit is imminent in the near future.

I haven't visited Bonny Scotland in many years either. I have fond memories of spending a week or so with my parents and sister in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond when I was a teenager, staying in a family friend's dilapidated cottage in the middle of nowhere!

My last and very fleeting visit to Scotland (still a while ago) was a highlight from my former career as a club journalist: I was sent to Edinburgh and Glasgow to cover the MTV Dancefloor Awards for Club On magazine! What an incredible night that was (not that I remember much of it!).

One day, I plan to visit the Sound of Mull to experience this imposing landscape for myself. Meanwhile, I can look at my bangles and dream...