SAY IT WITH PLANTS

When environment is main concern to many people, you can hear the buzzword GREEN everywhere. There’s happiness in giving. But giving somebody a gift involves choices on what to buy, where to buy and how to pack it. The paradigm has just got redefined with a tinge of personalization.

Plants — ornamental or flowering, indoor or outdoor and ordinary or bonsai — are becoming preferred items in the corporate and personal gifting space. As living and growing gifts, they can trigger off endorphins (the feel-good hormones), spreading cheer and positive energy to the gifted.

These gifts cut across occasions. Be at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, personal dos, hospital visits, or visiting a house of bereavement, plants are true carriers of hope and are ideal gifts, says Shakunthala Sridhar, a homemaker in Basavanagudi who grows moneyplants and bamboos in empty bulbs and

bottles for gifting

Dr M Jagdeesh, deputy director horticulture, Lal Bagh Gardens says: “The trend started some one-and-half years ago. Since then, we have seen a 30% increase in sales”.

At a wedding reception he attended recently, Jagdeesh saw saplings being given to the guests instead of coconuts and beetle leaves. Orchids, anthuriums, lilies, bamboos, carnations, gerberas, jasmine, basil (tulsi), roses and pagoda (temple flower plant) make ideal gifts. Plant enthusiast and entrepreneur Veena Nanda says bonsai plants can be life-time gifts and are priced between Rs 300 and Rs 5,000, depending on their age.

The trend is evident globally, particularly across Europe. “‘Say it with flowers’ is a Dutch saying. Today, a lot of people want to say it with flower pots or tree saplings. Europeans always carry flowers or plants when they visit people in hospitals. I was surprised that flowers were not allowed at a hospital in Bangalore a few years. Things are changing now,” says Bob Hoekstra, entrepreneur and former CEO, Philips Software.

Now say it with plants, gift some one a beautiful plant on their birth day, wedding anniversary, important occasion and gift your guest with plants. Make your house or office green and make planet green.