LONDON — A British TV gardener has shared his tip for keeping flowers perky — feeding them a tiny dose of the sex drug Viagra.
Just one milligram of the libido-boosting blue pill gives drooping blooms a lift and extends their life, according to David Domoney.
“Drop in a standard Viagra tablet … it stiffens up your blooms a treat,” he advised on his website.
The flowers need just one milligram of a standard 50 milligram tablet to regain their vigor, the gardener said.
Viagra contains nitric oxide, a hormone released by humans that enables blood vessels to relax and increases blood flow to the penis. Plants also give off nitric oxide to turn on their immune system.
Australian scientists first discovered Viagra’s potential in the plant industry and their research was published in the British Medical Journal.
“Viagra can double the shelf life of cut flowers,” the study said.
If Viagra is too hard to come by, Domoney said soluble aspirin will also add life to limp blooms.