You read that right: flowers can hear! And not only that: they can even talk too. Recent research shows that flowers respond to sound and that they make sounds that indicate how they feel. How exactly does that work? And is it possible to have a conversation with your auction-fresh bouquet or your houseplant?
Evening primrose responds to bee sounds: more sweet nectar
Some years ago, Dr. Lilach Hadany in Tel Aviv investigated the effect of different sounds on the evening primrose (also known as Evening Primrose), a flower that is common around Tel Aviv. What is special about this flower is that it produces a lot of nectar and that you can easily measure this.
In the lab, Dr. Hadany and her team exposed evening primroses to five different sounds and then watched what happened to the nectar. What turned out? When flowers were exposed to no sounds or high-pitched sounds, nothing happened. But when the sound of a honey bee was played at close range to flowers, something remarkable happened: within minutes, their nectar had become much sweeter! These flowers probably do this to attract bees.
Other plant species also belong with their flowers
The researchers then repeated this experiment with other flowers and each time the flowers produced sweet nectar when they heard that one sound. It also turned out that it is really the flowers that pick up sounds: when the researchers removed the petals, the effect disappeared! So they concluded that plants can hear the sounds of bees and that their flowers act as ears.
Another study also showed that certain plants respond to the sound of caterpillars. These plants then produce specific chemicals that a caterpillar does not like.
Tomato and potato plants tell how they feel
And it gets even crazier, because the same team of researchers from Tel Aviv also conducted a study last year into sounds that plants themselves make. It was already known that plants make ultrasonic sounds, but the idea that there was a meaning behind this was a bridge too far for many. However, nothing turned out to be further from the truth: plants make different sounds depending on how they feel!
In the research by Dr. Lilach Hadany and her team, sounds were recorded from potato plants and tomato plants. Some of the plants were healthy, but in other plants they deliberately gave too little water or cut the stems. The ultrasound recordings were then analyzed using special AI software. And yes: depending on whether a plant was healthy, had cuts or a water shortage, the plants made different sounds. Curious what those sounds sound like? Then watch this YouTube video !
Talking to your own flowers and plants
And then the key question: does it make sense to talk to your own flowers and plants? In principle not, unless you can exactly imitate the sound of a honey bee and have special software with artificial intelligence to capture ultrasonic sounds that plants make. But hey, who are we to determine what you do and don't do with your flowers and plants ? Feel free and order an auction-fresh bouquet , have it delivered today and just try to have a conversation with it! Better make sure no one is around, because you never know what people are going to think!
