The holiday season is upon us, and whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, or something else entirely, this time of the year is a wonderful time for celebrations and gift giving. For gardeners and plant lovers, giving plants as holiday gifts may seem like a natural choice. It’s a lasting gift that provides beauty and joy for years to come, and it may spark an interest in houseplants and gardening. Before giving someone a plant to commemorate Christmas or another seasonal holiday, there are a few things to consider. So, let’s dig in and learn a bit more about giving plants as holiday gifts and how we can use our love of gardening to celebrate the holiday season!
Before Giving a Plant as a Gift
Plants are great gifts, but there are a few things to think about before giving someone a plant for the holidays. It’s easy to fall into the thinking that houseplants are just inert pieces of décor. While plants absolutely can be part of your interior design, they’re living things with their own needs, traits, and other considerations, so here are a few things to think about when considering a plant as a gift:
· Does the intended recipient have any allergies, particularly to flowers? It’s OK to ask discreetly and even to tell them that it’s about a holiday gift, but it’s best to find out before you give them a plant that makes them sneeze or worse! If they are allergic to flowers, never fear—we’ll talk about some floral-free options in a bit.
· Do they have pets or small children? As with an allergy, this doesn’t mean we can’t give them a plant but it does affect the choice of plants they receive. Households with small children or pets—both of which like to explore the world with their mouths—probably aren’t the place for toxic plants, so consider some safe alternatives.
· How much space and how much light do they have? In general it’s best to avoid giving large indoor plants or plants with particular light, temperature, or humidity requirements as a gift unless you know the recipient very well. Smaller plants can be just as beautiful and much easier to care for. Ditto non-exotic plants and plants that tolerate a wide range of conditions often make better gifts than something that requires more involved care.
· Does the recipient like plants and have time to care for them? This is really two separate questions, but they interconnect so we’re treating them as one. Most people like having plants around the house, but some folks aren’t all that interested. As with allergies, it’s good to ask discreetly in advance. And while there’s a plant for everyone, folks with busy schedules may benefit most from a plant that’s easy to care for and can miss the occasional watering without fuss.
Now that we’ve gone over some things to consider before giving someone a plant for the holidays, let’s dive into the fun part and talk about which plants make the best gifts!
Plants to Give (Or Receive!) This Holiday Season
This list is going to include our suggestions for plants that make good gifts because they’re both beautiful and easy to care for. You know your friends and loved ones far better than we do and you know what they like and you may have a more informed idea of what plants might be best for them, but we hope this list gets you started when thinking about plants as gifts.
· Boston ferns (Nephrolepsis spp) are found in homes, offices, and public spaces around the world with good reason. They’re beautiful, fun, and easy to care for. They’re also nontoxic for both people and pets, which is good as cats love to play with their long trailing foliage. They do prefer indirect light, but that’s fairly easy to arrange in most indoor spaces. They also like humidity, so maybe include a garden spray bottle for misting when giving them as a gift.
· Holiday cactus gives us a clue in the name—this is a collection of cacti species that bloom around the holidays for which they’re named. Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus, and Easter cactus are the most popular, and they’re all beautiful and easy to care for. They’re also classic gifts and generally well appreciated by recipients, so they’re worth your holiday gift giving consideration.
· Garden herbs or culinary herbs are both beautiful and useful. They are generally striking plants that add both visual appeal and a beautiful aroma to a space, and of course they’re a wonderful gift for the cooks and foodies in our lives. A small container herb garden can be a great DIY gift, made as large or as small as you need. Culinary herbs do tend to like sunlight, so take that into consideration, but this may be the right gift for someone who loves to cook.
· Paperwhite narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) is another classic gift plant that loves to bloom indoors. No special care is required to induce blooming; the bulbs begin to grow when planted and flower within three to five weeks. They thrive in a peat moss based potting mix, but they can also be grown in a container of water with some decorative rocks added for stability. Either one makes a nice presentation and a lovely gift. Please note that this plant is toxic to both pets and people, so consider that when giving it as a gift.
As we said earlier, these are just suggestions—there’s a world of plants out there and we all have our favorites. This list is meant to provide a starting point and inspiration, so let your gardening imagination wander when considering giving someone a plant for the holidays!
Plants: The Gift that Keeps Giving
To close out this particular blog, we would like to remind you that even if your loved ones are familiar with plant care, they may not be familiar with the plant they’ve received. So providing them with some information about it and its care needs is a good idea. Most commercial sourced plants come with a garden tag that provides information, but you can also link them to online resources like our blog. It helps them get settled in with their new plant and ensure that caring for their gift is as easy as possible.
By giving the gift of a plant, you may also introduce someone to the world of gardening. That’s a pretty amazing gift in its own right and often makes the world a better place. So regardless of which holidays you’re celebrating, we hope there’s room for gifts, plants, and good cheer!
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