It’s nice to have flowers around to brighten up your day. But spending a million dollars on flowers to decorate government offices is a big waste of taxpayers’ money.

That’s the consensus of the British people after learning that their hard-earned money was used to purchase expensive flowers to brighten up the offices of cabinet members for the past four years.

Based on the current exchange rate, insiders say close to 780,000 – a whopping $1,091,248.03 – was wasted because of this.

The biggest offender is the Department for Children, Schools and Families that spent 174,600 – or $244,236.70 – on potted plants and cut flowers. In second place is the Foreign Office that spent 106,053 or $148,287.72.

“The money was spent on providing floral arrangements for official dinners and events, and bouquets for visiting dignitaries such as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, France’s first lady,” according to Murray Wardrop of the Telegraph.Co.UK.

Special mention, on the other hand, goes to British labor politician Lord Peter Mandelson who reportedly spends over 2,000 or $2,794.71 for flowers every month.

Ironically, Mandelson is the business secretary or the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to be exact. Critics say that in a time where business is bad because of the economic crisis, Mandelson chose to decorate his office instead of putting his energy where it is needed.

“The 24,155 ($33,793.38) on plants by Lord Mandelson’s Department for Business over the past 11 months stands in contrast to Chancellor Alistair Darling, who has cancelled flower orders. A Treasury contract worth 3,666 to provide flowers has been axed,” Wardrop said.

These figures were uncovered by Jeremy Hunt, the British Conservative Member of Parliament for Surrey South West.

“When times are tough, it is crazy that the government is spending so much on pot plants. Each department needs to think carefully about whether this sort of spending can be justified,” he said.

“People up and down the country will be outraged at this waste of taxpayers’ money. When everyone is struggling to get by, splashing out such vast sums on pot plants is a complete waste,” he added.

For the great majority who don’t have enough money to buy flowers, look around for the best deals. Your local florist can help you in this matter.

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As I mentioned in my previous article, children under age 5 are the usual victims of plant poisoning owing to their curious nature. At this age, it is hard to resist the allure of bright-colored and sweet-smelling flowers even if some of them are poisonous.

“Lots of plants are poisonous or capable of causing highly allergic reactions. Some will also pierce you with their sharp spines. Few actually do lasting harm but some should be treated with care and respect,” according to doctors at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Australia.

“Many plants have poisonous bulbs or roots but as these are usually safely underground, they are not likely to poison anyone. Others taste so awful that it is difficult to eat enough to cause a serious injury. Oleander, for example tastes so bitter and unpalatable that it is difficult to accidentally eat very many of the leaves. On the other hand there are plants that look appealing but contact can have bad results,” they added.

However, protecting our kids is easier said than done since it can be difficult to recognize a poisonous plant. Often there are no telltale signs or characteristics that distinguish a poisonous plant from one that isn’t. Therefore, we have to educate ourselves to save our children.

“The amount of poison in a plant tends to vary with location, age of plant, season and weather conditions. In some plants, the toxin is confined only to certain parts. Additionally, plants normally considered non-toxic may have been treated with an insecticide, making them toxic,” revealed the experts at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Canada.

What are the symptoms of plant poisoning? Be wary of the following: vomiting, stomach cramps, irregular heartbeat and convulsions.

“The type and severity of symptoms will vary according to the type of plant eaten, the amount swallowed and the size of the child. The most common problems are stinging around the mouth and skin allergies,” said doctors at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Australia.

In case of skin contact, wash the area with clean running water to flush out the poison. Likewise for the eye which should be irrigated for at least 20 minutes. Check the child’s mouth and remove any remaining plants before washing it. Call your local poison control center immediately. (Next: Beware of these poisonous flowers.)

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What’s the easiest way to help sick people recover? Give them a bunch of flowers and you’ll be doing them a favor.

That’s the advice of Kansas State University researchers who recently looked into the effects of flowers on recovering patients.

In their study titled “Effects of Flowering and Foliage Plants in Hospital Rooms on Patients Recovering from Abdominal Surgery”, Seong-Hyun Park and Richard H. Mattson of the Department of Horticulture, Forestry and Recreation Resources at Kansas State University in Manhattan, found that seeing green had a positive effect on people.

The study was carried out in surgical patients. Ninety people who had their appendix removed were randomly assigned to different rooms with or without plants.

“Patients in the plant treatment room viewed eight species of foliage and flowering plants during their postoperative recovery periods. Data collected for each patient included length of hospitalization, analgesics used for postoperative pain control, vital signs, ratings of pain intensity, pain distress, anxiety, and fatigue,” the researchers said.

At the end of the study, researchers said those who stayed in rooms that had potted flowering plants were better off. They needed fewer painkillers, had a lower heart rate and blood pressure, and were more relaxed.

“Questionnaires showed that people with plants felt less anxious, were less likely to say they were in pain, and were less tired. Almost all said that the vegetation was the nicest thing about their room. In contrast, the people who didn’t have plants said their TV was the best thing about their room,” reported Sophie Ramsey in the Consumer Reports Health Blog.

“Patients in hospital rooms with plants and flowers had significantly fewer intakes of postoperative analgesics, more positive physiological responses evidenced by lower systolic blood pressure and heart rate, lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue, and more positive feelings and higher satisfaction about their rooms when compared with patients in the control group. Findings of this research suggested that plants in a hospital environment could be noninvasive, inexpensive, and an effective complementary medicine for patients recovering from abdominal surgery,” researchers added.

Surprisingly, there was no difference in the length of hospital stay for both groups. Still, the positive effects reported by patients who had plants require further study.

Their advice: it won’t hurt if you bring flowers to patients. This will help brighten up the room and make people happy. Just make sure the recipient isn’t allergic to flowers.

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What’s small, has shiny bright red wings, a black head and legs and is capable of destroying a lot of ornamental plants? It’s the red lily beetle and it’s the terror of many gardeners worldwide.

Also known as the lily leaf beetle, this small insect is notorious in areas where lilies are cultivated. First seen in Montreal, the red lily beetle has spread throughout Canada and in some parts of the United States.

“They are often confused with the cardinal beetles since they also have a black underside and wings that are spotless and red in color. However, lily leaf beetles have wings that are shinier with tiny dimples on them. They are more rounded in shape compared to the dull, narrow, flattened and elongated cardinal beetle,” according to the editors of Wikipedia.

“Another difference between the two is their food preference. Lily leaf beetles are herbivores and are usually found on lily plants eating their leaves whereas cardinal beetles are usually found on tree barks and flowers and feed on flying insects. Lastly, the cardinal beetle has comb-like antennae,” they added.

As its name implies, the red lily beetle has a voracious appetite for lilies. Females can lay up to 450 eggs each season or about 12 eggs on the backside of each lily leaf. In this way, the eggs are concealed from predators. For extra protection, they are also covered with a thick brown substance.

The eggs hatch in about six days. The larvae start to feed under the leaf for the next 24 days until they finish the rest of the plant.

“They then burrow themselves in the ground to pupate in a cocoon formed by saliva and small particles of soil. In about 20 days, they emerge as adults and continue to feed until winter. In some cases, they are able to go through this cycle more than once in a single year,” said Wikipedia.

The damage left by this small insect is by no means minor. It can leave lilies weakened and susceptible to diseases.

The Royal Horticultural Society of Britain has recently spotted this pest destroying large areas of ornamental gardens. Unfortunately, this insect is difficult to eradicate and gardeners are usually advised to avoid planting susceptible plants.

“Once a garden is infected, it is incredibly difficult to grow plants without using dangerous pesticides that risk affecting other insects and beetles,” said Oliver Gregory of the Telegraph.Co.UK.

So don’t be surprised if your florist runs out of lilies one of these days. It’s probably due to brisk sales or the onslaught of red lily beetles. To satisfy your need for flowers, take your pick from other beautiful blooms instead.

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Have you ever wondered why that lovely flower you’re holding smells good? Believe it or not, this is a natural mechanism that’s important to the plant’s survival.

We spray perfume on our bodies to smell good and attract members of the opposite sex. In a way, this is what flowers do.

Like humans, flowers need to reproduce or face extinction. They do this by producing pollen grains that need to reach other flowers. This is where pollination comes in.

Pollination is the process where pollen is transferred from one flower to another for the sexual reproduction of plants. This is accomplished in two different ways.

In abiotic pollination, pollination is done without the help of other organisms or pollinators. This is accomplished mostly by the wind (a process called anemophily) that carries the pollen to other plants. Another form of abiotic pollination is hydrophily or pollination by water which is common in aquatic plants.

Abiotic pollination occurs in only 20 percent of plants. Of that number, anemophily accounts for 98 percent of pollination while two percent is by hydrophily.

The most common form of pollination is biotic which is done with the help of pollinators or organisms that carry or move the pollen. In most cases, this is done by insects. Other pollinators include bees, flies, bats, moths and birds.

“Pollinators are simply animals and insects that will come into contact with the flowers, and then move on, taking the pollen with them. As they progress from flower to flower, the transferred pollen interacts with the eggs and produces the seeds. As the seeds are distributed, an abundance of types of flowers will result,” according to Malcolm Tatum of WiseGeek.Com.

To attract insects and other animals that make pollination possible, flowers can’t wear perfume like we do. That’s why they produce their own. In short, they rely on fragrance to get the attention of pollinators. By doing so, the propagation of the species is assured.

“Part of the mechanism that is used to attract insects and animals such as bats to roses and other flowers is the fragrance. Using this powerful lure gets the pollinator in close proximity to the plant. In like manner, the flower scent in turn attracts the pollinator to other plants, making pollination possible. The fact that flowers smell good is simply nature’s way of making sure the cycle of life for the plants continues with no interruption,” Tatum added.

Of course, the scent of flowers appeals to many people as well which one of the reasons why we love flowers. This “scent-sational” quality makes flowers great gifts no matter what the occasion is.

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