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| 1. Lucky bamboos and peach blossoms |
Happy New Year 2015!
This year Chinese New Year falls on 19th February 2015. This is the 1st day of the Lunar Calendar where Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year.
2015 is the Year of the Wood Goat and it starts on February 4th, Lichun Day (立春) at 11:58 am local Malaysian time. Lichun denotes the start of the first solar term and beginning of spring in ancient China. It is a day when farmers would go back to the fields and begin work after a long winter's break.
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| 2. Peach blossoms |
Chinese New Year season is a very busy period for nurseries and garden centres. By now many of them would have already stocked up on many types of auspicious plants and flowers for Chinese New Year.
Hey, this is the best time of the year to shop for plants especially those imported and temperate climate plants.
Let's take a look at what plants the nurseries here in Malaysia have for Chinese New Year 2015. For this very important occasion, we would love to start the year with fresh hopes and aspirations. What we want is everything good and positive.... health, wealth, fortune, self and career improvements, prosperity, longevity, etc. I always like to check out the auspicious names of plants, flowers and fruits as there is no limit to the creativity of the minds business people when it comes to pushing sales!
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| 3 Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis |
Buddha's Hand, Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis is a variety of Citron plant with fruits that are oddly shaped, resembling our human hand. It is also known as "Fingered Citron".
In Chinese, it is 佛手柑 (fo shou gan - Buddha's hand tangerine), 五指柑 (wu zhi gan - five fingered tangerine), 福寿柑 (fu shou gan - prosperity & longevity tangerine). In Japan, it is called "bushukan" (ブッシュカン).
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| 4. Celosia argentea var. plumose |
The Plumed Cockscomb flower, Celosia argentea var. plumosa is known as "feng wei" (凤尾) meaning Phoenix Tail.
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| 5. Celosia argentea var. cristata |
The crested variety of Celosia called the Cockscomb Flower,
Red is the colour of prosperity, fame and honour while gold is the colour of wealth.
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| 6. Tagetes erecta |
Tagetes erecta is also known as Mexican marigold or Aztec marigold. Its Chinese name "wan shou ju" (万寿菊) when directly translated carries the meaning of "10,000 years lifespan chrysanthemum", so this plant denotes unlimited longevity!
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| 7. Guzmania lingulata |
Guzmania lingulata is known as pineapple flowers. Pineapple is auspicious because the Chinese word in Hokkien dialect is "ong lai" meaning the arrival of good fortune. The flowers can last a few months.
“Chinese New Year Plants and Flowers 2015”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/.
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| 8. |
Alocasia cucullata, the Chinese Taro is commonly known as "yu tou" (芋头) which sounds like 好意头 (hao yi tou) in Mandarin meaning good omen. Similarly Colocasia esculenta, the Cocoyam is also used for the same purpose.
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| 9. Crinum asiaticum |
Crinum asiaticum or Crinum Lily is known as Fa Cai Suan. The stems of this plant resemble the leek. The words "fa cai" in Mandarin means "to get rich" while garlic and leek is called "suan" in Mandarin. "Suan" sounds like "count" and this is prosperity when you have lots of money to count!
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| 10. Lucky bamboo and bonsai |
Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) grown in containers with auspicious wordings and decorated with festive ornaments. Some even have miniature statues of the goat/sheep.
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| 11. Cactus (L) and Yam/Taro (R). |
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| 12 |
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| 13. Hyacinth |
Hyacinth is 洋水仙 (yang shui xian) meaning water fairy, or 风信子(feng xin zi)
Remember to check what is the colour of the flowers unless you want to leave it to chance.
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| 14. Guzmania |
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| 15. Silk Flowers |
It is difficult to get real peach blossoms and peonies in Malaysia, so we use silk flowers to decorate our homes. These can be placed in vases and made into money trees.
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| 16. Kalanchoes |
Kalanchoes are called "wan zi qian hong" ( 万紫千红 - million purple thousand red) which translates to an abundance of wealth and prosperity. In Cantonese, 'zi' for purple colour also sounds like money (银纸 - ngan zhi) and son (子 -zi). The pronunciation of "wan zi qian hong" also rhymes with "a million offsprings, a thousand fame and honour".
Potted kalanchoes come in colours of red, pink, yellow and orange.
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| 17. Tillandsia cyanea |
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| 18. Mandarin oranges |
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| 19. Aglaia odorata |
It is also called the Chinese Rice Flower - mi zi lan (米仔兰 - rice, little, orchid).
Just saying the words "mi zi lan" in Cantonese reminds me of my grandmother so much!
Just saying the words "mi zi lan" in Cantonese reminds me of my grandmother so much!
The flowers are very fragrant with a sweet lemony scent hence the common name "mock lemon". The tiny flowers do not open fully and each one look like a grain of rice. I guess this would signify and abundance of food since rice is a staple food in Asia.
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| 20. Dahlia |
Perhaps "li" sounds like "da ji da li" (大吉大利) meaning great fortune and great profits/gains.
Florists also give the following names to dahlias:
芍藥 shao yao (Chinese peony)
大利花 da li hua (great gains flower)
紫牡丹 zi mu dan (purple peony)
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| 21. Dragon Lime |
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| 22. Chrysanthemums |
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| 23. Azaleas |
Azalea is called 映山红 (ying shan hong) or 满山红 (man shan hong) which means a mountain of
red.
Azalea is the symbol of happiness, harmony and balance in life. It is used to foster and strenghten relationships. Azaleas are warm temperate plants that bloom in spring and the flowers last a few weeks. They like the shade and acidic soil. Choose one that has lots of unopened buds but before that you need to view 1 or 2 opened blooms to choose the colours that you like, e.g. pink, red or white and pink. However, as the new year day draws near, you can choose those partially open ones. It takes about 2 weeks for azalea buds to open fully, otherwise your plant may only start blooming after the first 15 days.
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| 24. Pitcher plants |
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| 25. Red lanterns |
Many nurseries in Sg Buloh are already blaring Chinese New Year music and decorated with lots of red lanterns. The "tree" on the right is overloaded with artificial peony flowers.
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| 26. Chinese New Year promotions |
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| 27. Citrus lime trees |
Locally grown citrus lime trees are called "Four Season Limes". They are more lasting than the imported ones. The most wonderful part is that these citrus limes are cultivated to flower and fruit and ripen just in time for Chinese New Year.
Like Christmas trees during Christmas season, the Citrus Lime trees are the best seller of the Chinese New Year season in Malaysia.
Like Christmas trees during Christmas season, the Citrus Lime trees are the best seller of the Chinese New Year season in Malaysia.
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Citrus lime trees decorated with red ribbons and planted golden pots. At the entrance to this nursery, there is even the Chai Shen Ye (God of Prosperity) holding lots of gold ingots to greet customers.
WISHING HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2015!
Wishing you abundance of wealth, good health and prosperity.
Beautiful flowers are prepared for your New Year and let it be a good one for you. Regards.
ReplyDeleteGiga, thanks for the New Year wishes!
DeleteThere's such a broad selection of plants this year and some beautiful containers too. I don't remember seeing bromeliads in previous years; those would be my choice. The Tillandsias with the pink quills should have tiny blue blooms on the quills soon. Oh, and the fruit trees!
ReplyDeleteGuzmania and other bromeliads are getting popular because they are called "pineapple flowers" hence regarded as auspicious. I love them too because the blooms can last a few months and thereafter, we get "free gifts" in the form of suckers for propagation. And yes, tillies are gaining in popularity here, as they make good indoor plants.
DeleteBeautiful post!!! The Buddhas Hands are awesome- I have seen them in the citrus section at the grocery store but never seen them on the tree. I had a Tillandsia cyanea once- they are pretty but apparently I was told bloom once. Loved the post- thanks!
ReplyDeleteSo happy that you posted all those plants today. Made me feel warm with all those tropical flowers. Good to do that today as it is cold and there will be more snow tomorrow. Thanks for making my day - warmer. Jack
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! Your plants warm my soul this time of year, when it's so cold here. The citrus trees--wow!
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteTqvm for sharing such beautiful plant images together with their ID. May your CNY be a blessed and joyful one with lots of fond memories, We no longer add new plants to our garden due to ill-health. Such a pleasure viewing them here.
Wow! So many plants for CNY! Really beautiful and it comes in all shapes!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the nice comments! Jacqueline, hope you get better and may the Year of the Sheep brings you good health and cheer.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pictures and it sure puts me in the festive mood. Thank you for always including the names. This blog is like my reference book for plants! ^.^
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sharon! Yeah, indeed I am like writing a journey for self-study and glad to share what I learnt with others. :)
DeleteHappy New Year in the year of the goat....and what a wide array of hot colored flowers.
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous photos. I like the tlliandsias, the pineapple flowers and the marigolds (which I have every year in my garden). We can buy Buddha's Hand in our local Whole Foods grocery. What a wonderful eay to celebrate the New Year with all these gorgeous fruits and flowers. Happy New Year to you.
ReplyDeleteHi there, can I know where can I get those lucky bamboo vases/pots?
ReplyDeleteElric, you can get them at many nurseries in Sg Buloh, Selangor Green Lane or near Sg Buloh Hospital/new UiTM Medical Faculty at Jalan Hospical, Sg Buloh
DeleteMay I ask which nurseries have hyacinths and do they have it only during Chinese New Year or all year round? Thank you
ReplyDeleteJ. Scott, the nurseries here have hyacinths only once a year i.e. during Chinese New Year season.
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