Plants make excellent gifts. Plants help to bring nature inside the home. They are thoughtful, meaningful, and long-lasting. They are also quite useful, highly sustainable personal gifts that are great for the environment. So if you are looking for the perfect gift to give for a housewarming, birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, anniversary, or any other special occasion, check out the best plants for gift giving. From low-maintenance plants to non-toxic plants that require little light or water, there’s an option for everyone.
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Reasons to Gift a House Plant
- Long lasting – Plants can last months, if not years – assuming proper care measures. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. They are resilient, sustainable, and far less wasteful than a bouquet of flowers.
- Long-term health benefits – Plants are good for people. Houseplants produce fresh oxygen, clean the air, and eliminate toxins and indoor pollutants. Plants are also quite soothing and therapeutic to have around, which makes them great for practicing mindfulness and relaxation. They can help to lift one’s spirit and ease anxiety and depression.
- A home decor statement piece – Plants are pretty and can fit almost any decor aesthetic. They make great statement pieces for any home.
- Companionship – Some plants tell stories, and some keep secrets. Like a pet, watching plants grow and cultivating new life over time provides a sense of companionship. Nurturing and caring for a plant can be quite a fulfilling experience, even for those with not-so-green thumbs.
Best Plants for Gifts
1. Jade Plant
This large succulent is also called Crassula ovata, Good luck jade plant, or money plant. it is known for and symbolic of bringing happiness, good vibes, and prosperity to the home. With their thick, woody stems, they often resemble mini trees.
This stunning lush green plant is extremely low maintenance and only requires limited hydration, periodic watering, and sunlight. It is a very popular indoor plant that makes a wonderful housewarming gift for friends and is perfect for those with a busy schedule.
2. Pothos Plant
This lush tropical vine plant, known for its trailing heart-shaped leaves, is by far one of my favorite house plants. This plant can climb, transforming into a lush cascade of greenery. It is one of the easiest plants to take care of, and it is excellent for the avid traveler, the not-so-green thumb, and those with limited experience with caring for plants.
This plant is also great for propagating simply by using the cuttings of the stems to multiply your pothos plant. This green beauty helps to improve indoor air quality by filtering chemicals from the air – helping you breathe easier. These plants can tolerate periods of neglect and low lit spaces, allowing them to thrive in any environment.
3. Snake Plants
Snake plants, also known as Sansevieria, are trendy modern plants. This resilient sturdy plant can grow in almost any environment. This plant is beginner friendly and can tolerate neglect, making it perfect for anyone with a busy lifestyle that may not be able to nurture a plant consistently. They are practically impossible to kill and are drought-resistant. Its vibrant hues and unique-looking leaves make it the perfect gift for anyone on any occasion.
While it doesn’t need a lot of water to survive, thanks to its water-storing leaves, it thrives in neglect versus overwatering. Snake plants are known for constantly releasing oxygen, enhancing the air quality while clearing toxins like benzene, carbon dioxide, and formaldehyde from the air.
4. ZZ Plant
ZZ plant, short for Zamioculcas Zamiifolia, is a trendy houseplant with thick, shiny, waxy dark green leaves, sometimes mistaken for being an artificial or fake plant. ZZ plants tolerate neglect well and low light conditions. It is an air purifier removing toxins such as xylene, toluene, and benzene from the air. While beautiful and hardy, it can be considered slightly toxic, so it’s best not to eat it and keep it away from pets and children. It is a great plant for the traveler or workaholic as it only needs to be watered every couple of weeks.
5. Aloe Vera
This thick, pointy short-stemmed plant stores water in its leaves. With its long spikes, this plant can survive in virtually all temperatures. This multipurpose aloe plant can be useful for treating minor burns and wounds and can be used as a moisturizer. Aloe vera plant requires little watering and virtually no fertilizing, making it an easy-care houseplant for beginner plant lovers and those intrigued with holistic health.
6. Calathea Plant
Also known as prayer plants, they are visually stunning plants that make great substitutes for flowers due to their colorful pink and white striped patterned leaves and texture. Their leaves actually open and close up throughout the day, like hands in prayer, which is why it’s nicknamed the prayer plant.
While some might consider them a bit high maintenance because they need specific light, temperature, and water conditions, they make a good gift for friends and family who don’t mind nurturing plants. They are also non-toxic and considered pet-safe making them a good option for friends with cats or dogs.
7. Money Tree
With a braided trunk and lively green leaves, Money trees bring prosperity, good luck, and financial success to the gift recipient. Money tree prefers good drainage to avoid root rot and should be placed in bright, indirect light away from vents and drafty areas. Money trees are popular, eye-catching houseplants that are relatively low maintenance making them the ideal gift for special occasions.
8. Monstera Deliciosa
With its oversized, vibrant green leaves with natural holes, the monstera is a trendy plant that doubles as the perfect home decor. Often times referred to as the “Swiss cheese plant,” the Monstera adds depth to a cozy bedroom. This plant is efficient at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen.
This plant is a climber and can grow up to 10 feet tall if they have something to latch onto. It is also great for propagating, making it the perfect plant gift that keeps on giving and can be done by placing new leaf cuttings into potting soil.
9. Fiddle Leaf Fig
You are likely living under a rock if you are unfamiliar with the fiddle leaf fig. It is probably the trendiest and most popular house plant today, famous for its big broad, vibrant, veining green-colored leaves. It makes an ideal statement piece for your home decor. This houseplant is notoriously finicky, especially when your home temperatures fluctuate, so make sure it’s kept bright light and watered at least once a week. They also get really big and dramatic, so choose an appropriately sized one that the gift receiver can nurture and grow.
10. Pilea Plant
Known for their bright green, coin-shaped leaves, Pilea plants, also called Chinese money plants or coin plants, is a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing unique looking plant that brings their beauty to any space. These bad boys grow really fast but can be fun to watch as it pops out little babies in their soil or tiny “pups,” which makes them great for propagating.
Try not to overwater this one, as it likes to dry out in-between waterings and doesn’t like sogginess. Give it lots of Bright indirect sunlight. This makes an excellent housewarming or hostess gift, as it is said to bring good fortune, money, and abundance to its owner.
11. Ficus Elastica
This tropical plant, also known as the rubber plant, is a great starter plant. With its captivating rubbery pink, green, and yellow leaves, this beauty makes a gentle but striking statement. While some consider this houseplant Easy-going and low maintenance, try not to let the roots sit in water, as they can suffer from root rot, producing fungus gnats, spider mites, and mealybugs. As beautiful as it is, it can also be quite toxic to pets.
12. Herb Plants
Herb plants can vary from rosemary, mint, parsley, or sage. This is by far one of the most useful plants to give as gifts. Herb plants can be great for cooking for the friend who loves to cook or the parent who enjoys making a cup of tea from scratch. Simply place the herbs in a sunny window.
13. Spider plant
With several long, narrow leaves that curve outward and dangle down from the mother plant like spiders on a web, spider plants are considered one of the most adaptable of houseplants and the easiest houseplants to grow. These formidable plants can handle lots of hardship, making them excellent candidates for those lacking a green thumb.
14. Corn Plant
The Corn plant, also known as Dracaena fragrans with no relation to corns, is a tropical plant with shiny good looking leaves that is native to Africa. This plant makes a great accent piece for a living space with lots of shade. They are forgiving of variable light conditions and watering routines.
It grows slowly but can reach a height of four to six feet, and at maturity can make an impressive floor plant in a large pot. Corn plants are known for effectively removing toxins from the air while elevating your mood and reducing stress.
15. Haworthia
As with most succulents, the haworthia has symbolic meanings in some cultures, from good luck, fortune, tenacity, strength, and selfless love. With its petiteness and textured, spiky leaves, this plant makes a wonderful gift to those you love. This succulent is also known for creating a relaxing and calming environment while reducing stress, anxiety, and tension. Just be sure to place it near bright indirect to direct light for it to survive well.
16. Echeveria plant
The Echeveria succulent plant stands out with its impressive rosette build. With its unique and attractive aesthetics, the echeveria adds beauty to any space. It is also known for its sustainability and resilience. These Succulents are so low maintenance that you can forget to water them for weeks as they require relatively occasional waterings and no special attention.
17. Sempervivum
Sometimes referred to as houseleeks or hens and chicks, this succulent possesses a rosette shape and brightly colored, pointy leaves. This intriguing succulent plant is incredibly hardy and can survive most temperatures. It is a pet-friendly plant that requires little care – sometimes thriving on neglect.
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Tamara White is the creator and founder of The Thrifty Apartment, a home decor and DIY blog that focuses on affordable and budget-friendly home decorating ideas and projects. Tamara documents her home improvement journey, love of thrifting, tips for space optimization, and creating beautiful spaces.
