What plant to give, occasion by occasion

The plant matters less than the fit. A peace lily is perfect for a funeral and slightly grim for a birthday. A cactus is funny for a colleague and cold for a new baby. This guide picks one safe choice and one interesting choice for each occasion, so you don't have to know anything about plants to get it right.

We don't sell plants - we make cards, pin badges and prints in house, printed in the UK. So this is a straight guide to the plant, and the card to send with it.

Birthday

• Safe choice: a Chinese money plant. Cheerful, compact, easy, and it makes babies you can pass on.
• Interesting choice: a string of hearts, which trails and looks far more expensive than it is.
• For someone in their first flat: a pothos, because it survives almost anything.
• For a milestone birthday: an olive tree or a large monstera - the price matches the occasion.
• Card line: something to keep alive, unlike the last one. Happy birthday.

Housewarming and new home

• Safe choice: a snake plant. Upright, hard to kill, fits a shelf in any room.
• Interesting choice: a rosemary or bay in a pot for the kitchen windowsill - useful as well as decorative.
• For a first home: a spider plant, traditional and generous with babies.
• For a garden: a hydrangea or a small tree, if you know they'll actually plant it.
• Card line: something living for the new place. Congratulations.

Sympathy and funerals

• Safe choice: a peace lily, the standard UK sympathy plant and quietly beautiful.
• Interesting choice: rosemary, which means remembrance and can be planted out later.
• For the garden: forget-me-nots or a rose, to mark the person somewhere permanent.
• Avoid anything loud or novelty - bright pots read wrong in a house in mourning.
• Card line: thinking of you. This one is easy to look after, so please don't worry about it.

New baby

• Safe choice: a spider plant - non toxic, tolerant of neglect, and it copes with a chaotic house.
• Interesting choice: a small olive or lemon tree for the window, growing alongside the baby.
• Check for pets and toddlers first - nothing spiky, nothing toxic.
• Keep it small. New parents have no surfaces left.
• Card line: one more thing to keep alive, but this one only needs water. Congratulations.

Anniversary

• Safe choice: an orchid, which is the anniversary plant for a reason - it looks like an event.
• Interesting choice: a myrtle, traditionally associated with marriage and used in royal bouquets.
• For a big anniversary: a tree for the garden they can watch grow.
• For a first anniversary: something you both have to keep alive together.
• Card line: still growing. Happy anniversary.

Thank you

• Safe choice: a small succulent or a potted herb - enough to say thank you without obliging them.
• Interesting choice: a rooted cutting from your own plant, which costs nothing and means more.
• For a teacher: a hardy desk plant that survives the school holidays.
• For a neighbour: something for the doorstep or the garden.
• Card line: a small thank you that should outlast the favour.

Retirement and leaving work

• Safe choice: a large statement plant for the house they'll now be in more often.
• Interesting choice: a fruit tree, a grapevine or a set of herbs for the garden project they keep mentioning.
• For a group gift: a mature plant in a proper pot, with everyone signing one card.
• Avoid a desk plant - they are done with desks.
• Card line: something to look after now the rest of us aren't your problem.

Shop cards

Pin badges to send with it

Small, postable and it lasts as long as the plant does.

How to write it so it lands

• When in doubt, pick the hardiest plant on the list rather than the prettiest.
• Match the pot to their house, not to the plant shop.
• For sympathy, keep the colours quiet - white, green and terracotta.
• Write the plant's name on the card. People genuinely forget what they were given.

Where to shop next

• Plant gifts UK
• How to wrap a plant as a gift
• Plants as a housewarming gift
• Plant meanings and symbolism
• Low maintenance plants to give
• Sympathy and memorial plants
• Pet safe plants for gifting
• Plants as seasonal gifts
• How to keep a gifted plant alive
• Gift wrapping ideas
• All guides
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges

Frequently asked questions

What plant do you give for sympathy?

A peace lily is the usual UK choice, and rosemary is the traditional plant of remembrance. Both are easy to care for, which matters when someone is grieving.

What plant is best for a housewarming?

A snake plant or a pothos. Both survive an unfamiliar house, odd light and a few missed waterings while the boxes are still being unpacked.

Is a plant a good new baby gift?

Yes, if it's small and non-toxic. A spider plant is the safest common choice. Avoid cacti and anything toxic to cats and dogs.

Which plant suits a retirement gift?

Something large enough to feel like an occasion - a statement houseplant or a fruit tree for the garden, given with one card everyone has signed.