Communication Flower

They say talking to your plants helps them to grow better, but doing so can feel silly for some of us. After all, unless you're growing Audrey II, it can be a fairly one-sided conversation. 

With the new spritely Communication Flower sensor and speaker, you can at least pretend they're talking back. 

The "Hanakotoba", or "Communication Flower"

Japanese romantics will have the chance to hear some truly flowery language with the help of a playful gadget purported to express the feelings of plants. 

Through the voice of a small doll, the device will share what the plant is supposedly “thinking” when a person strokes it. 

The "Hanakotoba", or "Communication Flower" (pic), consists of a small rod topped with a fairy figurine that can be put inside a potted plant or vase of water. 

When the owner touches the stem or leaves, a small electric current passes from the rod through a wire to a small doll. 

"What a beautiful day!" the doll, wearing a green vest and cone hat, will say once the flower is touched, or "Let's stay friends forever!" Hanakotoba has up to 200 different phrases. Each time the attach plant is touched or spoken to, it will respond with a random phrase from its vocabulary.

The gadget, made by Japanese toymaker E-revolution, is the latest creation of Masahiko Kajita, who scored a smash hit in 2002 with “Bowlingual” – a dog collar said to interpret canine barking. 

"I created translators for cats and dogs, which were a big success among men, so I was searching for a similar success among females, and since women love flowers, I decided to work on them," he said.

Hanakotoba means, "The Language of flowers" in Japanese and now is time to learn it.

So now you have the change to carry on a conversation with your carnations. Or, you could leave the house and talk to some real people, who can also respond on their own, but may not smell so nice.