Try Flower Arranging to Brighten Your Day and Keep Your Brain Active

Creating a beautiful bouquet can do more than tickle your senses

Sandi Schwartz

Updated January 29, 2025

Two women flower arranging inside of a flower shop

Edwin Tan/Getty Images

Looking for a fun, creative way to keep your mind active while feeling more serene and joyful? Try flower arranging.

This hands-on activity is full of benefits, including some that may support brain health as we age. Kaifa Anderson-Hall, a horticultural therapist and president/CEO of Plants and Blooms Reimagined, explains that flower arranging is a horticultural-therapy activity and also a creative, artistic expression. She describes both (via email) as “evidence-based practices [that contribute to] enhanced mental health, which has a direct impact on cognitive functioning.”

Just being near flowers may lift your mood. Indeed, Jeannette Haviland-Jones, professor emeritus of psychology at Rutgers University, has studied the benefits of flowers. One of her studies, published in 2005 in Evolutionary Psychology, involved delivering flowers to a subset of the study’s 104 participants — women and men over the age of 55 — over the course of two weeks. Compared with those who did not receive flowers, those who did reported a more positive mood. They also scored better on memory tests, mostly likely as a result of the mood boost, the authors note.

Suzanne Faith, who is certified in Alzheimer's disease and dementia care, is author of Flowering Your Mind: How To Engage Your Brain In Healthy Exciting New Ways. She sees the power of flowers in action every day and says working with flowers is helpful for people who have cognitive disabilities or just want to stay mentally engaged.

Here are some of the benefits of “flower power” worth checking out:

Trigger memories

One of the most valuable aspects of working with flowers is how just the sight of them can spur memories, Faith says. Many of these recollections are positive, such as spending time in a garden as a child or receiving a bouquet on a special occasion, she says.

Scents can also bring back memories. “[When] working with the smell of flowers, a lot of my clients are able to recall or spark nostalgic memories that they’ve had either [in] childhood or being in one of their favorite places or a memory with a loved one,” says Brittney McKinley, creative director and founder of Contained Stems, where she teaches workshops that combine flower arranging with meditation and other wellness practices.

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Flower arranging has even been tested as a cognitive intervention. In a study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2018, 16 patients with neurocognitive disorders, such as stroke or traumatic brain injury, demonstrated greater visuospatial memory recall after participating in a program that involved following instructions to create a specific arrangement, using either flowers or colored sticks. The improvements lasted for about 3 months.

Increase relaxation

Extensive research already explains how spending time in nature can help improve mental health. Bringing nature indoors may carry benefits, too. When it comes to flowers specifically, a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2022 found that creating floral arrangements helped a small group of nursing home residents feel more relaxed. Similarly, a study in 40 young women showed flower arranging reduced blood pressure and anxiety.

Anderson-Hall has witnessed firsthand how flower arranging positively impacts her clients’ mental health. “Flower arranging provides a creative, sensory-rich activity that promotes relaxation, focus and a sense of accomplishment, all of which help to manage anxiety, depression and stress,” she wrote in an email.

Improve coordination

Creating a flower arrangement involves working with your hands: maneuvering scissors or clippers, grasping thin stems, wrapping bouquets and placing blooms in a vase. For those picking their own flowers in the garden or out in nature, even more hand-eye and muscular coordination is necessary.

“Whether you’re putting flowers in a vase or you’re gardening, you’re using movement,” Faith adds. “You’re engaging motor memory through the use of a positive visual that we know makes the individual feel good,” she says.

Stimulate senses

Flowers engage our senses through their vibrant colors, rejuvenating scents and tactile features, such as smooth or velvety petals and leaves.

We respond differently to flowers’ different shades; as a general rule, cool colors are soothing and hot colors are invigorating, says Christopher Barrett Sheridan, who’s a garden writer, educator and designer known as the Flower Sommelier.

As for scents, a “spicy” carnation “kind of perks you up, whereas something in the mint family could be relaxing,” Sheridan says. “I think that the scents can certainly impact your mood.” He recommends choosing a variety of fragrant flowers and herbs for your arrangement.

Build social connection

Taking a flower-arranging class helps people connect while engaging in a creative activity. McKinley has found that many of her clients enjoy flower arranging in a group, which allows them to socialize with others who have like-minded interests.

“Those settings allow people to really connect,” she says, noting that taking a class is a good way to interact with people they may not have met otherwise.

And, of course, giving flowers has its own rewards. “It's the type of gift that’s going to make someone’s day,” says Sheridan, adding, “I think that's a way of making yourself feel good [as well].”

Tips to get started

Flower arranging is a versatile hobby that you can do on your own at home, in a group class or at a social gathering. Look for in-person classes via community centers, libraries, nature centers and flower shops. You can also find online courses or watch YouTube videos for inspiration and step-by-step instructions. McKinley offers virtual flower arranging classes, for example.

Most of the flowers you might want to use in your arrangements can be grown in a home garden, says Sheridan. “You could also forage where that’s permitted in natural areas,” he says, noting that foraging is yet another way of staying sharp and active.

Of course, you can always buy blooms, greenery and herbs at farmers markets, flower farms, flower stores or your local supermarket.

“Create freely or find pictures of arrangements to reproduce,” suggests Anderson-Hall. She encourages people to enjoy the experience, appreciate your creations and share them with others.