Potted Plant Holiday Gift Ideas

If you’re finding it hard to come up with original gift ideas each year for everyone on your Christmas list, take it from us: you can never go wrong with an indoor plant! You might be wondering—Is a plant a good gift? After all, they do require a bit of upkeep and care. But really, a little bit of regular watering and the occasional sprinkle of fertilizer isn’t a huge commitment, especially when the payoff is a gorgeous green plant that purifies the air and brightens up those grey winter days!

 

Houseplant Gift Ideas: Which is the Best Plant to Gift? 

Plants, like people, are a diverse group with their own funny quirks, habits, and little things that make them special. So, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to holiday shopping, we came up with gift ideas for all the people on your list! And with the magic of online ordering, getting all your shopping done is just a few “add to cart” clicks away! 

 

For Your Sweetheart - Chinese Evergreen 

Thinking of gift ideas for your special someone can be extra daunting, but the perfect plant can hit all the right notes. It scores high for sentimentality—especially if it’s a bright, long lasting plant that keeps growing stronger with time, like the Chinese Evergreen. A Christmas gift that’s a metaphor for your love? Boom, nailed it. 

There’s a romantic, idyllic quality to Chinese Evergreens, especially the varieties splashed with rosy pink pigment, like Lady Valentine or Evergreen Ruby. Even in darker rooms with less than optimal window light, this plant will continue to thrive without much needed in return.

For the Mom Who’s a Little Bit “Extra” — Gold Dust Croton

As much as Mom loves to layer her bracelets, the number of charms on that Pandora stack is starting to get a little overwhelming. A gold dust croton has a gold-flecked glam look that will go perfectly in her seashore-themed bathroom, or in the kitchen by the sign that says “It’s wine o’clock somewhere.” The more sunlight a croton receives, the brighter it will get, but it can still tolerate lower light conditions. Mom will love the sparkly effect this tropical beauty brings to her home decor!

 

For the Handyman Dad — Sansevieria 

If Dad has a habit of tinkering in the garage and making questionable upgrades to household appliances, all those cans of paint, WD40, engine oil, and even plugged-in appliances can omit chemicals into the air that are harmful to breathe in. That’s where the sansevieria comes in! These tough-as-nails plants are incredible at air purifying, constantly filtering out formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and all sorts of other airborne nasties. Even better, they don’t need that much sunlight or water, so they’ll get along just fine on a shelf in the garage as long as it has a window.

For Your Yoga-Obsessed Sister — Calathea

There’s a calming, meditative quality about the calathea—AKA the prayer plant—whose leaves gracefully dance, slowly striking different poses throughout the day as the sunlight levels shift. While there are many different varieties, their leaves always seem to have a beautiful, hand-painted effect with stripes of different colors. Your blissed-out yogi sister will be ever grateful for this lovely, thoughtful plant! 

 

For Your Craft-Beer-Drinking, Flannel-Wearing, Bearded Brother — Staghorn Fern

He’s got the lumberjack aesthetic, but he’s flirting with a vegan lifestyle. A staghorn fern is the ideal gift for your bearded brother! It looks just like a set of deer antlers, and you can even hang them mounted on a wooden plaque, so they totally fit the flannel-clad, prog-rock woodsman vibe. This distinctive plant will make the perfect accent piece to hang near his carefully curated vinyl collection.  

For the Precocious Kiddo - Maranta Red

The pink-striped leaves of this maranta, or “prayer plant,” move throughout the day, which is fascinating for curious minds! Like most other prayer plants, this variety is low-maintenance and pet-friendly, so they’re great gift ideas for busy households with kids and their four-legged pals. The budding scientist in your family will definitely get a kick out of this botany project!

 

For Your Niece the Aspiring Influencer — Pothos

Between memorizing TikTok dances and doing social media challenges for climate change awareness, your Gen Z niece is putting a lot of consideration into her Zoom background for online classes. Pothos come in a variety of gorgeous colors from neon chartreuse to silvery variegations, and its trailing habit makes it great for floating shelves and hanging baskets. Green variegated leaves with white accents are so in style right now, gracing the pages of design blogs and Instagram feeds everywhere, so the aspiring influencer in your life will certainly appreciate it.

For Your Cool Hippie Aunt — Spider Plant

Books, cats, crystals, and tarot cards are scattered throughout the home of your beloved wacky aunt. To add to her charmingly quirky home decor without taking up too much space, give her a spider plant to hang in a macrame window planter! This shaggy plant has a fun texture and distinctive striped leaves, producing little “pups” that can be planted into whole new plants. It’s also one of the best plants for removing toxins from the air, making them great gift ideas for the especially eco-conscious members of your family.       

For Your Rebellious Teenage Nephew — Cryptanthus

This spiky bromeliad sounds like the name of a death metal band, and honestly, its color palette and appearance kind of fit that vibe. Some are bright red, and others have dark black and white zebra stripes. And that spiked style is definitely a hairstyle that’s been sported by a few drummers. Cryptanthus is super drought-tolerant, so if your nephew waters it every time he cleans his room, which is perhaps a bit infrequently, this cool little houseplant will keep on rockin’.

For Your Ride-or-Die Best Friend — String of Dolphins

Your best pal has a sense of humor and sass that clicks perfectly with your personality, and when you’re together it’s a recipe for fun. Reminiscing about old times over a glass of wine and a charcuterie board has become common practice with you two. The string of dolphins plant is an amazing gift for your BFF, because hello—it’s adorable, and there’s something distinctly nostalgic about its dolphin-shaped leaves that harken back to the days of Lisa Frank notebooks covered in cute animals.

 

For the Teacher Who Deserves a Vacation — Anthurium

2020 has been an especially crazy year for teachers, and they are much deserving of some love this holiday season! The tropical anthurium brings a little splash of paradise to your home or deskspace, with ultra vibrant flower bracts in shades of pink, red, white, or orange. Drop one off on a teacher’s doorstep this holiday as a thank you for all the hard work they’ve put in this year!

That One Coworker You Don’t Actually Know That Well — Coffee Arabica

Okay, so you took part in an office Secret Santa and drew Glenn from HR’s name. Wait… which one is Glenn? Well, either way, even if you’ve only exchanged a few words with him from across the xerox machine, Glenn will totally get a kick out of a coffee plant. It grows actual coffee beans that you can roast, grind and brew! Nothing bonds coworkers like a cup of coffee and a mutual disdain for Mondays. 

This year, don’t stress over gift ideas and spend hours browsing through endless online shops. Grab a colorful variety of different plants from Plant Decor Shop, so everyone on your list is covered this holiday season!