The gift that grows

Looking to give something to family or friends who love plants?

More and more of our loved ones have developed a thumb for gardening during this pandemic and what best way to show love to them than to fuel their passion and give them that one perfect gift that grows.

For Dhez Javier, owner of Kiara’s Garden, gifting plants this Christmas is a way of telling someone that you care. According to her, plants not only brighten up your surroundings, but can also lift your mood and studies have shown that an environment with plants creates a feeling of well-being.

“Gardening is therapeutic and an excellent stress buster,” Javier said. “It is a relaxing recreational activity that can provide great personal reward. When gardening, you make things grow. Gardening provides a sense of pride that you can grow healthy and beautiful plants.”

Kiara’s Garden’s best sellers are its indoor plants, orchids, bromeliads and succulents, and cacti. They also have precious plant varieties of monstera, begonia, orchids, bromeliad, philodendron, calathea, aglaonema, hoya, peperomia, and more.

We asked members of CNMI’s plant lovers community, Sprout & About, on what would be the best gift for plant parents like them—and the short answer? Know what plants they like.

According to Hanaivy Babauta, “gifting plants is difficult because to find the right plant, you really have to know what plants they already own, otherwise you might just duplicate the responsibility of caring for the same plant.”

Nhorleen Bitco-Lilles additionally advised that in gifting plants, “it would help if you know what kinds of plants your friend(s) are into, plants she doesn’t have yet and the ones she would like. If not sure about plants [but] pots are always a nice alternative.”

What other gifts would be perfect for plant parents? Here’s the basic top three:

1. Combo cuttings/starting plants in a propagating jar

Javier said the best plants as gifts for beginners are pothos, spider plants, snake plants, dracaena species, bromeliads and lucky bamboo [to name a few]. However, for pro gardeners, she said the best plants to give are anthuriums, orchids, succulents and cacti, calatheas, begonias, and other plants that require high maintenance.

Where to buy: Kiara’s Garden | Wireless Ridge | Wasana’s Garden | Saturday Street Market

2. Pots and planters

You got your plants now, so what’s next? Pots, of course. Pots are perfect because plants grow, so you can always get a bigger pot as a gift. Your plant loving family or friend most likely would also have lots of plants to propagate so pots can and will always be useful. Also, be mindful to get ones with good drainage!

Where to buy: Sprout & About members swear by pots bought from Wasana’s Garden, Pop Up, and Lucky De Market.

3. Garden tools and a watering can

The basics would be hand tools, which would include a planting and a digging trowel, and a cultivator hand rake. The gardening trowels are very useful when digging small holes for planting smaller plants, and also for digging up weeds. Then watering can, of course, to water the plants! If you are feeling extra generous, it would be best to also throw in a pair of gardening gloves, fertilizer, plant markers, some plant swags, and well, even a bag or two of soil.

Where to buy: Ace Hardware