Live Plants: A Great Gift Idea
Posted: Monday, October 08, 2007
by Edgar Freundlich
Jackson & Perkins
Give gifts that have lasting value. Whether the person receiving your gifts is a gardener or not, live plants make excellent gifts because they engage their new owner. It is a thoughtful gift. If you order a houseplant for someone, it will come in it's own pot, with it's own soil. The only maintenance they will have to learn is how much water and light their new plant needs. But even this small interaction could spark an interest in gardening that may lead to a new hobby.
Whether they are co-workers or distant relatives, if you are obligated to buy a gift for someone you are not especially close to, you still want to make a good impression. Buy something nice, not expensive, but something useful. Potted plants, especially the amaryllis, Christmas cactus, and poinsettia you find around the Holidays work really well as holiday decorations, and often come in ornate containers that can be reused. Many people will throw out their Holiday plants, but make sure to let them know, they'll live for years, even that poinsettia will bloom again, given the proper prompting.
Mail-Order Your Holiday Gifts
Ordering your gifts to be sent through mail can be very convenient if you live far away from the person receiving the gift or if you are dealing with something sensitive, like live houseplants, and you have no place to store the gift until it is time to give it. Often gifts sent straight from the vender will have nicer packaging than what you would find at a normal shipping store, and you can ask your sales representative to include a personal note with your gift. Sending beautiful, professionally packaged live plants to distant friends and family will have a much larger impact than a simple card or fruit cake. We all know how exciting it is to receive an unexpected package (that’s not a fruit cake).
Not Just For Gardeners
Many people believe that potted plants are the kind of gifts that you only give to select groups of people - maybe your 93 year old Great Aunt Alice. But that's not true anymore, if you browse through the catalogs and online gardening sites, you will see that there is something for just about everyone. There are Bonsai Tree gift sets - mature bonsais that have been trained for years, live table-top Christmas trees, and exotic house plants that anyone would find interesting. Of course, the holiday favorites are potted amaryllis and christmas cactus plants.
Plenty of people need a little green in their life - anyone working in an office, college kids in the residence halls, new home owners, and yes, of course, your dear old Great Aunt Alice.
Edgar Freundlich is a garden writer for Jackson & Perkins.
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