How to Choose a Plant Gift

A plant gift keeps going long after the card has been put away, so it's worth a minute to pick one that fits. The right plant depends on how the person lives: how much light their home gets, how comfortable they are with plants, whether there's a cat or dog around, what the occasion is, and whether they'd like something small for a desk or a statement plant for the corner of the room.

Work through those questions and the choice usually narrows to two or three plants. This guide takes them one at a time, and every plant it mentions is one we deliver across Brisbane as part of our living plant gifts range.

Start with the recipient

Start with the person, then think about the occasion. A plant that suits their home and routine will do well whatever the reason for sending it.

For someone new to plants

Choose something that copes with a missed watering and imperfect light, and that shows its mood clearly before anything goes wrong. These make good first plants:

• Pothos. Our Green Gold pothos grows quickly, trails from a shelf, and droops when it's thirsty, so the new owner can see when to water.
• Snake plant. Sansevieria Moonshine has upright silver-green leaves and is fine going a long while between waterings.
• Peace lily. It wilts visibly when dry and stands back up within a few hours of a drink, which is reassuring for a beginner.

Leave calatheas and other humidity-lovers for later. They're striking, but they want more regular attention.

For a busy household

For people who travel, work long hours or have young kids, pick a plant that's happy to be left alone. The Zanzibar Gem ZZ plant is the standout. It stores water in a thick rhizome under the soil and sits comfortably in lower light, which makes it one of the most forgiving plants we sell. A snake plant or an aglaonema works too. Aglaonema's patterned leaves hold up well in an office or a dim hallway.

For a plant lover

Someone with a windowsill full of pothos will appreciate a plant they're less likely to own already. Look for patterned leaves or a bit of character:

• Calathea. The leaves fold up in the evening and open again in the morning. Our calathea plants include Insignis, the rattlesnake plant, and Freddy.
• Philodendron Birkin. Every new leaf opens with its own run of cream pinstripes, so no two are quite the same.
• Ctenanthe Grey Star. Less common, and it packs a lot of pattern into one plant.

For someone with pets

Many popular indoor plants can make cats and dogs unwell if they chew them, including pothos, philodendron, peace lily, anthurium, aglaonema, snake plant and cyclamen. The ASPCA's peace lily listing describes mouth irritation, drooling and vomiting. Its cyclamen entry warns that eating a lot of the tubers can cause far more serious effects.

If the recipient has pets, or you're not sure, choose from plants the ASPCA lists as non-toxic to cats and dogs:

• Calathea, listed as non-toxic to dogs and cats.
• Peperomia obtusifolia, the baby rubber plant, also listed as non-toxic.

Our pet-friendly plants are the place to start. Choosing a plant that suits a home with pets is your call as the sender, so if you don't know the household, ask before you order.

Match the plant to the occasion

Once you know what suits the person, the occasion helps you settle on colour, size and tone.

Birthday plant gifts

A birthday plant can be a little fun. An anthurium brings a flash of colour, with waxy red or pink spathes above glossy heart-shaped leaves that hold their colour for months. For someone who likes their greenery patterned, a calathea or Philodendron Birkin feels more personal than a plain green plant. Our birthday plant gifts collect the ones that suit a celebration, and you can add a greeting card on the product page so your message arrives with the plant.

New-home plant gifts

When someone has just moved in, neither of you knows how much light each room gets. Choose a plant that handles a range of conditions: pothos, ZZ plant, snake plant or peace lily. Pick a size they can move from room to room until they find the right spot. A decorative pot helps too, because the gift is ready to display while they're still unpacking. Browse our housewarming plant gifts for more ideas.

Sympathy plant gifts

A sympathy plant should feel calm and last. It stays in the home, and the family can look after it for years. The peace lily is a classic choice, with white spathes above deep green leaves, and Aglaonema White Tip is a soft, low-care alternative. Choose green and white over bright colour, and keep care simple, because the family has enough to think about.

We don't deliver to funerals, memorial services or funeral homes, because we can't deliver at a set time. Send it to the family's home instead, perhaps in the week or two afterwards when things have quietened down. Our sympathy plants are chosen with that in mind.

Get-well plant gifts

When someone is recovering, give them a plant that needs almost nothing: a compact peperomia, a ZZ plant or a small snake plant on the bedside table. Avoid anything that sulks after a missed watering. We don't deliver to hospitals, because ward rules differ and patients move or go home at short notice, so choose a delivery date for when they're back home. See our get-well plants.

Think about light and care

Light matters more than anything else in whether a plant does well, so picture where the gift is likely to sit.

• Bright, indirect light, near a window but out of direct sun. Most plants are happy here, and it suits calathea, philodendron, anthurium and peperomia. Direct afternoon sun through glass can bleach patterned leaves, so a spot back from a west-facing window is safer.
• Medium to lower light, such as a hallway, an office away from the window or a dim apartment. ZZ plant, snake plant, aglaonema, pothos and peace lily cope well. They'll grow more slowly, but they'll stay healthy.
• Humid rooms like bathrooms and laundries suit calatheas, which like moisture in the air. A Brisbane summer supplies plenty, but an air-conditioned home can dry them out.

For care, be honest about the person. If they're likely to forget, choose a plant that tolerates drying out, like a ZZ, a snake plant or a pothos. If they like a routine, a calathea gives them something to tend.

Choose the right size and pot

Size changes how the gift feels, so check the pot size on the product page before you order.

• Smaller pots suit a desk or windowsill. They're easy to carry home from the office, good for a small apartment, and won't take over anyone's space.
• Mid-sized plants fit a side table, bookshelf or kitchen bench, with enough presence to feel like a proper gift.
• Larger statement plants fill a floor spot or a corner of a bigger living area. They suit milestone birthdays, new homes, or a few people going in on one gift together.

Adding a pot from our indoor plant pots range makes the gift ready to display and saves the recipient a trip to the shops. The Cedar Cylinder and Cove Drum pots come in white, sage or black, which suit most homes, and the Coastal pots add blue and green. Read the pot's description for its measurements so it fits the plant you've chosen. You choose the pot, any giftware and a greeting card on the plant's product page, before checkout.

Sending a plant gift in Brisbane

We deliver with our own couriers to selected Brisbane suburbs, for a flat $19.95. Order before 12pm on a weekday or 10am on Saturday for same-day delivery. There's no delivery on Sundays or public holidays. You can also choose a date up to six weeks ahead, which helps with birthdays and anniversaries.

A few things help your plant arrive well:

• Check for pets before you order. If there's a pet at the address and nowhere out of its reach to leave the plant, the driver brings it back to us.
• Think about the heat. In a Brisbane summer, a workplace delivery is usually safer than a doorstep when nobody's home.
• Include the recipient's mobile number and any gate or unit details. Our driver calls that number on arrival, and we never leave a gift at an apartment complex's reception.

Check the suburb list and cut-offs on our delivery page before you order.

Start with the plant that suits the person, then add a pot and a card. Our full range of plant gifts for Brisbane is the place to begin.