Tips & Ideas For Giving Plants As Gifts

Gifting plants is a wonderful way of sharing your love of plants, and giving a present that can be enjoyed for many years to come. In this post, I will show you how to gift a plant, share a list of plants that make good gifts, and give you tons of inspiration for potted plant gift ideas.

There are so many opportunities for gifting plants for special occasions, or simply to say thank you and show your appreciation. Whether you want to give plants for Christmas presents, you’re looking for a housewarming gift plant, plants for birthday presents or good Mother’s day houseplants, or even fun party favors – the list goes on and on.

Plants are incredibly thoughtful, and there is something wonderful about giving them as gifts. Live plant gifts make people smile, warm up a room (and sometimes make it smell great too), and are healthy to have around the house.

Tips For Choosing The Perfect Gift Plant

Live plants make such a great present because they are beautiful and come in all shapes and sizes to fit the gardening skill level and preferences of everyone. That said, before you decide to give a plant as a gift, do a little investigating first so you’re sure that it’s the right type of gift to give…

Is your friend allergic to flowers? If so, giving succulents as a gift will be better than flowering plants.
Does your neighbor have pets? Make sure the plant you are gifting isn’t poisonous to the type of pet they have.
Does your family member hate purple (or any other color)? Then avoid gifting plants that have purple flowers (or whatever color they dislike).

The main thing to consider when choosing the best plant to gift is this: you want your present to be thoughtful, not a point of frustration! Once you’ve done your research and feel that a plant is a great gift, it’s time to decide what plant you are going to give.

Houseplants are good plants to give as gifts

The Best Plants To Give As Gifts

I think we can all agree that giving a plant as a gift is perfect for any occasion. But what is a good plant to give as a gift? Perennials are nice plants to give as gifts, but it can be challenging to know exactly which ones will work well in someones garden.

Herbs are also good plants for gifts, but unless your friend wants to grow them indoors during the winter, it can be short lived. If you ask me, the best potted plants for gifts are houseplants. Unless you’re giving them to someone who has experience growing indoor plants, I recommend gifting plants that are easy to care for, and will grow well in any home.

Some of the best indoor plants to give as gifts are pathos, spider plants, dieffenbachia, peperomia, arrowhead vine, philodendrons, cast iron plant, corn plant, snake plants, Chinese evergreen, succulents and zz plant (to name a few).

Giving A Plant As A Gift

Your plant may be tiny or large, flowering, or dormant, cascading, or tall. So when it comes time for wrapping plants, it’s important to consider the size of the pot and the height of the plant. A small plant could be tucked inside a gift bag, or even wrapped in a box (if you’re incredibly careful when carrying it). But that doesn’t work for larger plants.

So whether I’m giving large or small plants for gifts, I like to let the plant be the spotlight of the show from the beginning instead of covering it up. Tying on a bow or ribbon may be all it takes to make it look extra special. Or you can add a bit of flair to the pot itself by decorating it or wrapping it.

Dormant amaryllis are popular Christmas plant gifts

Ideas For Creating Cute Plant Gifts

The beauty of gifting plants is that each one will be unique in itself, but so can the packaging. Plant wrapping paper can be simple, or you can use other fun materials to really spice things up. Be sure to choose materials that match the holiday or occasion. Here are some ideas for what to use to decorate plants for presents…

Using colorful materials to create personalized plant gifts

How To Gift A Plant

When it comes to gifting plants, your options are countless, so you can really let your creativity run wild. In addition to giving you ideas for items to use, I also wanted to show you some examples of basic ways you can gift wrap plants. Use these ideas as is, or mix and match your favorite ideas to create the perfect look for any occasion.

You can use any of these methods whether you create your own plant arrangements, or go plant shopping to purchase plants to give as gifts. So have fun with it!

Inspiration For Creating Adorable DIY Plant Gifts

In this section, I’ll show you how to recreate the looks I made, but feel free to let your own creativity and imagination run wild. You can do whatever you want to make these a truly customized gift from the heart! Below I created four looks to give you some inspiration…

Christmas Succulents gift plant
Thank You gift of indoor plants
Peek-A-Boo potted plant gifts
Traditional Surprise plant gift bags

Idea 1: Christmas Succulents Gift Plant

I love giving houseplants for Christmas gifts. It seems like such a simple gift, but plants are always a huge hit with my family and friends! It’s a great way for me to share my love of plants, and also give them a unique gift that they will enjoy for many years.

Succulents are one of the best plants for Christmas presents. Everyone loves succulents! So, for this one, I’m gifting a mix of a couple of my favorite succulent plants for a good family friend for the holidays. Since the planter is so cute, I chose to keep it simple by wrapping a festive bow around it.

Wrapping succulents as Christmas gifts

Supplies Needed For Christmas Succulents

Mix of succulent plants or a pre-made succulent garden
Decorative rocks (I add these to the top of the soil to dress this gift up even more)
Wooden planter (or decorative pot of your choice)
Holiday ribbon
Gift bow
Gift wrapping tape

Steps To Recreate Christmas Succulents

Step 1: Pot up your succulent plants, or simply drop the pre-made succulent garden into the decorative pot.
Step 2 (optional): Cover the top of the soil with decorative rock to give it some extra character.
Step 3: Wrap ribbon around the pot. Ensure the ends of the ribbon come together where you want the bow to be placed to hide the seam. Use clear tape to hold the ribbon in place.
Step 4: Add a bow of your choice, covering the ends of the ribbon.

Idea 2: Thank You Gift Of Indoor Plants

I love showing my gratitude to friends and family by gifting plants! This particular pot I’ll be giving to a friend who has been incredibly helpful.

This one is super easy, and I love choosing decorative plant pots as part of the gift. Here I simply placed the plant into a decorative pot, then used colorful washi tape to attach a thank you card onto the pot. Easy and adorable!

Giving plants as a Thank You gift

Supplies Needed For Thank You Garden

Mix of succulent plants or a pre-made succulent garden
Decorative rocks (optional – used to cover the soil and dress it up a bit more)
Square planter
Fun, colorful washi tape
Thank you card

Steps To Recreate Thank You Garden

Step 1: Pot up your succulent plants, or simply put a pre-made succulent garden into the pot of your choice.
Step 2: Cover the soil with decorative rock if you choose to.
Step 3: Write your thank you card with a message about how grateful you are. Seal the envelope and write thank you on the envelope.
Step 4: Position the thank you card on the front of the planter, attaching it with two small pieces of colorful washi tape on the corners.

Idea 3: Peek-A-Boo Potted Plant Gifts

This is one of my favorite ways to give plants as a gift, because it’s the closest thing to wrapping them without covering the plant. And it works for any occasion! This style of wrapping plants is especially great if you’re gifting plants that aren’t in decorative containers.

If the pot you use has drainage holes, then I recommend either dropping it into a decorative cache pot, or putting a plastic drip tray underneath the pot before wrapping it. This will prevent any moisture from coming through the draining holes and ruining your wrapping paper, or staining the fabric.

Wrapping plants to give as gifts (without covering the plant)

Supplies Needed For Peek-A-Boo Plant Gifts

Plant of your choice
Planter (can be decorative or not)
Colorful tissue paper or fabric (you could use foil wrapping paper for plants instead if you’re worried about the pot leaking water)
Decorative twine

Steps To Recreate Peek-A-Boo Plant Gifts

Step 1: Put your plant in a decorative pot of your choice, or put a drip tray underneath it.
Step 2: Lay your fabric or tissue paper on the table in a diamond orientation. You can stagger the corners so that it makes a layered effect, as I did.
Step 3: Position the pot on the tissue paper or fabric so that one corner of the tissue paper/fabric is laying towards the front of the pot.
Step 4: Gently gather the tissue paper/fabric to cover the pot. Secure it in place by wrapping a piece of decorative twine all the way around the pot, and tying it in the front. It will be much easier if you have someone help you for this step. One person to hold the tissue paper/fabric in place while someone else ties the twine.

Idea 4: Traditional Surprise Plant Gifts

So far, all of my ideas have been cute ways of wrapping potted plants without the element of surprise. If you prefer giving gifts that are a surprise until they’re opened, then this one is for you! Who doesn’t like traditional surprises?

Gift bags are a super easy way of gifting plants, just be sure to choose a bag that’s large enough for both the pot and the height of the plant. For this idea, I painted a terracotta pot to give it a theme and make it even more personal.

Using decorative gift bags for wrapping plants

Supplies Needed For Traditional Surprise Plant Bags

Plant of your choice (or decorate one!)
Decorative pot
Gift bag that’s large enough for your pot and plant
Tissue paper

Steps To Recreate Traditional Surprise Gift Plant

Step 1: Put your plant in the pot of your choice (or decorate one!).
Step 2: Carefully place the potted planted into the gift bag so it’s standing up on the bottom of the bag.
Step 3: Fluff up various pieces of tissue paper and loosely add them into the bag to hide the plant.

Gifting plants is a wonderful way to share your favorite plants, or to give someone a little extra green in their life. The best part about giving plants as gifts is the look you get when you give it away. Plants really are thoughtful, classy, and beautiful on any occasion. And live plants truly are the gift that keeps on giving!