Gardens: nature’s happy pill | James Wong

Feeling blue? Get yourself a mood-changing gardenia

It might feel increasingly cold and grey as we slide into autumn, but one species is in its full glory right now: the blowsy ivory flowers of gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides). Yet this exotic houseplant has much more to offer than mere visual appeal. Its creamy-white petals house structures that generate sweetly scented compounds which not only fill a room with their rich, jasmine-like fragrance, but according to recent trials may also have a profound effect on your mood.

Research on mice cells at Heinrich Heine University and Ruhr-Universitit in Germany found that two of the compounds responsible for the scent of gardenia flowers could have a similar mechanism to commonly prescribed barbituates and anaesthetics such as propofol. They may even be of a similar strength under laboratory conditions.