Buying Auspicious Indoor Plants for Chinese New Year 2011

Chinese New Year Bonsai

This post  is about the various types of auspicious indoor plants we can decorate our homes with. Those of you who live in high rise apartments and rented homes with little gardening space will find it useful. Anyway, for those of us who have outdoor gardens, many of us like to decorate our living rooms with live plants to transform our interiors into instant 'blooming' gardens. With a little imagination, tiny office spaces turn into pretty table-top/miniature gardens.

This is the 3rd and final post about the plants at Ah Chui Nursery.

Chinese New Year Bonsai

A bonsai decorated with ribbons, mini lanterns and ornaments with auspicious words, all in colours of red and gold. Potted bonsais like these resemble the pine trees you see in Chinese art and calligraphy and pine trees symbolise longevity.

Besides being a spring festival, the Chinese New Year Day which falls on the first day of the first lunar month of the Chinese Calendar also marks the changeover of luck for the better. We have an ancient legend where a monster 'Nien' used to terrorised the people on New Year Eve. The nien was successfully overcomed and chased away with very loud noise and the colour red which it hated. So, that is why Chinese New Year is often celebrated with loud noise created by the sound of firecrackers and beating of drums and cymbals.  During this season, we also go 'over-the-top' with the colour red.

Just like you make new year resolutions, we'd like to look at our new year with renewed hopes and aspirations.

“Buying Auspicious Indoor Plants for Chinese New Year 2011”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on January 26th, 2011.

Lucky Bamboo

Bamboo is a symbol of longevity, endurance and protection. Bamboo plants stay evergreen throughout the coldest winter to the hottest summer and they live through all the 4 seasons. They can weather the storm and return to life. Under strong winds, they do not break easily but could bend with the flow. They spring back up when calm returns.

The lucky bamboos I bought from this nursery last year is still thriving in a jar of water until today. Usually they only last a few months when grown indoors in small vases.

Lucky Bamboo

A lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) twisted into spiral shapes with a bird on top. The leaves grow upwards and the bamboo are arranged in a rising hierarchy symbolising personal advancement. We believe that birds bring good news and wonderful opportunities for success and advancement. Some people are very particular on their placements in the home, i.e. whether they want the birds to fly in or fly out.

Lucky Bamboo

Lucky bamboo in mini ports with hanging red packets and gold ingots resting on gravel. Can you see the rows of dangling miniature gold ingots hanging from the red ribbons? The pot is shaped like a peach, the fruit of longevity and immortality.

You can also find lucky bamboos at the hypermarkets like Jaya Jusco, Ikea, Carrefour, Giant and Tesco.

Lucky Bamboo

Lucky bamboos are also called ribbon plants or Belgian evergreens. The spiral ones are called 'dragon bamboo' while the one in the centre is 'lotus bamboo'. The spirals represents a change of luck for the better.

These are flower pots with auspicious drawings. The leaves are allowed to grow upwards to symbolise a successful climb to the top.

We have bamboos in our homes, potted or grown on the ground and even in paintings to bring good health and longevity for our aged parents and also the patriach (breadwinner) of the family. A potted bamboo plant in the office attracts good luck and 'staying power' in our work and career.

These look like Pachira aquatica plants. Pachira aquatica are also known as Malabar chestnut, money tree, Guiana chestnut, provision tree or saba nut. In Chinese it is 馬拉巴栗 (malabali). It's auspicious CNY name is "money tree" (發財樹 fācái shù) or "US Dollar Tree".

This plant thrives well indoors, even under artificial lighting and when looked after well, they bear showy yellow flowers that open at night and produces nuts that are edible. Their palmate leaves which are 5-7 lobed are considered auspicious.

I have a similar one in my garden. It was given to my by my late father who told me that mine was 2-3 trees knotted together to signify a closely knitted family. He also told me that 2 trees can be joined together to symbolise very loving/close partnership as in husband-wife relationships. It is only recently that I found out that this tree is also used as a money tree.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia, the ZZ plant

A ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) with hanging God of Prosperity and 'fu' ornaments. 'Fu' signifies the blessings from heaven. The ZZ plant is also known as the Zanzibar gem, Jian Qian Shu (“金钱树”) or gold coin plant) or fortune plant. It is used as a money plant because its leaves resemble a string of ancient Chinese coins which is very auspicious. I have been growing mine in the porch for years and each stalk of leaves last for months, some even as long as a year!

 This planter box is loaded with gold ingots, strings of gold coins and even a golden pineapple. The name of this plant is Euodia ridleyi, common name Evodia. The green leaves turn a golden yellow when exposed to the sun. Its auspicious name is "A bucket of gold" (一桶黄金 or yi tong huang jin).

As you can observe by now, flowers and plants play an important role in our new year celebrations:

1. We buy live plants and flowers to grow in our outdoor garden
2. We buy live plants and flowers to decorate our home interiors
3. We buy artificial plants and flowers for interior decor, and each type of plant/flowers has a special meaning
4. We use flowers for prayers and cleansing rituals
5. We visit flower markets on New Year eve

Finally, a million apologies to my friends and commenters if I have not visited you yet as I am currently very busy with my festive preparations, e.g. cleaning, decorating, prayers...

I wonder what are the popular Chinese New Year plants in your respective countries?

Thank you very much for visiting My Nice Garden.

This is my entry for Fertilizer Friday, thanks to Tootsie of Tootsie Time, the link is here.