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The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is a time of great celebration that would last around 15 days. Aside from the festivities, certain plants are considered auspicious and are included in the decorations to bring good luck and prosperity.
If you’re looking for good luck plants to decorate your home or give to friends and family, then you’ve come to the right place. why not give them a potted plant? Here are 15 Chinese New Year plants that symbolize a message of good luck and good fortune.
Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana)
The celebrations of the Chinese New Year are incomplete without the Lucky Bamboo. Although called bamboo, lucky bamboo is not a type of bamboo, but it belongs to the Dracaena family. The Lucky bamboo is tough and fast growing which symbolizes growth, increase and flexibility. The hollow stem represents an open and down to earth heart.
As a Chinese New Year plant, the lucky bamboo needs to have five elements – earth, metal, wood, water, and fire. Here are some suggestions on how you could add the other elements.
| Element | What to do |
| Earth | Add some rocks or pebbles in the pot or soil in the planter. |
| Metal | Add some coins to decorate or use a metal planter. |
| Wood | The stem symbolises the wood element. |
| Water | Add some water in the planter, ideally in a glass planter. |
| Fire | Tie the plant with a red-coloured ribbon/band. |
The other thing to remember when choosing lucky bamboo, is to be mindful of what the number of stalks represents.
| Number of stalks of lucky bamboo | Purpose of lucky bamboo |
| 2 | Love, marriage, relationships |
| 3 | Happiness, joy |
| 5 | Health, wellbeing |
| 8 | Wealth, abundance |
| 9 | Fortune, prosperity |
| 10 | Wish for perfect life, ideal life |
| 11 | Good luck, prosperity |
| 21 | Blessings, prosperity abundance |
The lucky bamboo requires little maintenance. If planted in water, change the water weekly with purified water. If planted in soil, water it only if the soil seems dry to touch. Keep the plant in a place with indirect, filtered sunlight.
Anthurium (Anthurium)
The color red is popular in the Chinese culture symbolizing luck. The red anthurium, also known as the Flemingo lily, makes a great lucky plant for the Chinese New Year as its red flowers symbolize prosperity and fortune. Apart from the Chinese New Year, these flowers are also great to gift on Valentine’s Day. Check out more flowers for Valentine’s Day.
Science also proves this plant to be beneficial as it filters ammonia, xylene, and formaldehyde from the air, thus making it clean to breathe in.
Keep the Anthurium plant where it gets bright, indirect sunlight, that doesn’t burn the leaves. Don’t overwater it, let the soil dry out a bit between consecutive watering.
Orchids (Orchidaceae)
Orchids symbolize abundance and fertility, thus making them popular Chinese New Year plants. You can grow orchids in different beautiful pots, to add to the aesthetics of your home. The gorgeous orchid flowers do not wilt for months and stay fresh for a long time.
Make sure the pot has enough drainage holes to prevent waterlog. Keep the plant in places with bright, filtered sunlight, and do not over-water it.
Bromeliad (Bromeliaceae)
The bright-colored Bromeliad plant is a symbol of good fortune and luck, especially on the occasion of the Chinese New Year. This plant belongs to the pineapple family of plants and has a cup shape at the center.
Place the Bromeliad plant in a window where it gets medium to bright sunlight. Fill this cup with water and let the soil dry out a bit between successive watering.
Pilea (Pilea peperomioides)
The Pilea is also known as the Chinese Money Plant. This plant is a symbol of financial success and a great addition to the house or workplace, particularly around the Chinese New Year. The round and flat leaves look similar to coins, which makes it a lucky indoor plant. This is one of the best plants for the Chinese New Year.
Put this plant in a place where it gets bright, indirect morning sunshine and water it thoroughly when you feel the soil drying out.
Bonsai
These miniature trees are a unique plant. It shapes and look amazing indoors at any time of the year, particularly the Chinese New Year. Put it in an adorable pot to match the plant and interior of the house.
When the top inch of soil feels dry to touch, then water the plant, once a week. Put it in a happy place where it gets bright, indirect sunlight and keep the air around it humid. You can do this by water spray or putting a tray with water and pebbles close to it.
Jade Plant
This plant is gifted as a housewarming gift during the Chinese New Year since its bright, emerald-colored coin-like leaves represent luck, wealth, and good fortune. Being a succulent plant, you can easily care for the Jade plant. It grows best in full sun, where it gets 4 hours of light at a minimum, and the soil is moist, but not soggy.
Calamondin Orange Trees
This plant symbolizes abundance and fruitfulness and is a traditional gift for the Chinese New Year. The tradition of gifting this plant at the Chinese New Year emerged because of the similarity in sounds of the Chinese word ‘wealth’ and the word ‘orange’.
You can grow the dwarf variety of this tree in small spaces indoors. Keep the soil moist, but don’t over-water it. If you want the Calamondin orange tree to bear fruit, then put it in a place where it receives at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight.
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
The white flowers of the peace lily symbolize purity and innocence. It is also believed to bring luck, harmony, and good fortune to your home, especially during the Chinese New Year.
Science proves that this plant is a great indoor plant due to its air purification powers. It can filter chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, ammonia, and trichloroethylene. This elegant plant grows all year long and is considered a lucky charm for the inhabitants of the house.
These plants love to grow in bright, but indirect sunlight as too much sun can burn the leaves. The Peace lily grows best in a moist environment, so spray the leaves with water or keep the tray with water and pebbles near the plant and keep the soil moist, but not soggy.
Buddha’s Hand
This ornamental citrus plant bears orange fruits, which are part of the festival celebrations during Chinese New Year. These unusually shaped, and fragrant fruits are similar in appearance to the hands of Buddha, as represented in pictures. These give this plant its name and it is considered lucky owning to the fruits resembling Buddha’s hands, thus bringing in prosperity and fortune.
Money Plant
The Money plant, also known as the golden pothos or Devil’s ivy, is a popular plant considered to be lucky for homes. It is a versatile, yet hardy plant that can purify the air by getting rid of benzene, xylene, and formaldehyde from the air. This is a good love plant to bring luck and prosperity, particularly at the time of the Lunar New Year.
Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes)
These plants have pitcher-like structures that look like money bags. So, the pitcher plant is considered a symbol of luck and fortune, especially for the Chinese New Year.
Peach Blossoms (Thyatira batis)
These blossoms usually adorn the peach trees at the time of the Chinese New Year. These flowers represent prosperity, romance, and growth and are used in Lunar New Year decorations and are particularly regarded by young people in search of love.
The peach tree is considered a sacred plant in China and its fruits are associated with longevity. These make this plant and its flowers a lucky thing around the Chinese New Year.
Pussy Willows
Pussy willows symbolize growth and prosperity. They are a great choice for a Chinese Lunar Year’s plant. They are usually decorated by florists using the 5 elements – earth, metal, wood, water, and fire.
With little maintenance, they sustain for extended periods of time, and you will only need to require a cup of water.
Sword Lily (Gladiolus)
The Latin word Gladiolus means sword which refers to the pointed leaves of the Sword lily. They are cormous perennials that have funnel-shaped blooms in a spectacular range of colors. Go with the red sword lily for Chinese New Year which symbolizes growth in your career or constant progression in self-development.
Wrapping Up
The lucky plants for the Chinese New Year on this list are the most popular types that you could select for your home or give as a gift. As you can see, these plants symbolize prosperity, love, good fortune, and luck. You could not go wrong with choosing one or the other to include in your celebrations at one of the greatest events of the year.
