Gifting a Houseplant For Mother’s Day? Read This First

I’m not the best when it comes to gift giving BUT I do have a few rules that I try to follow at all times, ESPECIALLY when it come to Mother’s Day (regardless of whether you’re buying for your mother or someone elses):

  1. Buy something she’ll like
  2. Don’t buy a gift that requires work
  3. Try to buy something she doesn’t already have

As I always follow this rule I never buy my mother plants because they don’t last long around her. Their care inevitably falls to my dad who has enough plants in the garden to tend and doesn’t need them invading his home as well.

THAT BEING SAID

I can suggest some plant ideas for you to get your mother. We’ll start with Gift Rule 1: buy her something she’ll like. if you don’t know if your mother likes plants buy yourself a plant and ask her if she, like you, likes plants.

See? Sneaky AND you get to get yourself a plant.

If she says yes read the rest of the article. If she says no, and you have no idea what to get her, buy a nice box (that she can repurpose) and fill it with fancy coffee, salt, and oil – stuff everyone uses that she can use or regift BUT won’t clutter up her home with useless crap.

But what about Gift Rule 2?

Do. Not. Make. More. Work. For. Your. Mother. On. Mother’s. Day.

If you’re gifting flowers, great (not as good as a plant but you do you)! But put them in a vase yourself. And only buy her flowers if you know she has a suitable vase. If you’re unsure, get her a vase as well.

With regards to picking a plant that means buying her a nice plant that isn’t a PITA to care for. So no:

  1. Calathea
  2. Maidenhair ferns
  3. Begonias
  4. Crotons

Nothing that’s going to require special plant care skills UNLESS you know she’s good with plants and enjoys caring for them.

So what plant SHOULD I get my mother for Mother’s Day?

Yeah, ok, I’ve spent a lot of time going through what not to do. So here’s a list of plants that i think are a good shout for mother’s day gifts:

Plants to gift if your mum likes plants but isn’t massively into them

This is for the casual mum that has a couple of houseplants but nothing out of the ordinary. I’ll include pictures so you don’t end up buying her plants she already has

Hoya

Hoya are awesome because they bloom and mums love flowers. They’re also pretty easy to care for – they have thick, succulent leaves that can hold on to water well – awesome if your mum isn’t the type to stay on top of watering. Hoya also hail from tropical rainforests so they can take *some* overwatering.

Hoya are traditionally passed down as family heirlooms (they can live a looong time) which I think makes them an even nicer gift.

hoya australis lisa

There are loads of different types of Hoya – the Australis Lisa picture above is a solid choice, but a Hoya bella would be best for a mother that loves flowers. The heart-shaped Hoya Kerrii is also a great choice, but try to get one that’s already a vine – not one of the planted single leaves – because they’ll last longer.

Read more about Hoya care here

ZZ plants

ZZ plants are just great plants. They’re pretty unusual in terms of structure, and they’re veeeery forgiving when it comes to care and light conditions. They’re great for gifts because they do decently well when abandoned but are rewarding to grow for more advanced gardeners.

They’re also pretty interesting to propagate.

Read my ZZ plant care guide here

Pilea Peperomioides

I just like them and think they’re cool! And I think your mum will too!

pilea peperomioides

They grow best in decent light (I give them as much light as possible and if the leaves don’t turn red I leave them there – if the leaves turn red I move them away from the window.

Will put up with a fair amount of neglect. They produce pups so if they lose leaves the pups will surround the bare stem over time. Read more about their care here.

Pothos

I know they’re boring BUT if your mum has a super bright window you could buy her a pothos with a moss pole and over time she could end up with something like this monster:

golden pothos with fenestrations

Yes, that is a regular old boring Golden Pothos (also called Devil’s Ivy) that has been grown up a pole in good light.

Monstera Thai Constellation

These are easy in terms of care BUT they HATE to grow so if your mum doesn’t have a bright spot in her house don’t bother. These used to be super pricey but you can get them for like $30. They just look cool:

monstera thai constellation

Plants to gift if your mum LOVES plants and likes caring for them:

Maranta lemon lime

These look AWESOME but require a bit more care – they’re also somewhat pest-prone. But look:

maranta lemon lime

It does flower (you can see them if you look closely) but they somewhat wee in comparison to the leaves.

Orchid

If I were to gift an orchid, I’d pick all the moss of the roots and buy a pretty vase that the orchid can sit on top off, roots inside. Then you can add a cute label that says something like ‘fill me with water once a week for 20 minutes’. I’ve been experimenting with keeping my orchids like this (only feeding twice a year) and they’re thriving.

Aglaonema Pictum Tri-color

Mums like camo, right?

These plants are a bit unusual and used to be INCREDIBLY rare because the tissue culture versions couldn’t get the pattern quite right. There must have been a breakthrough at some point because I got one for TWELVE NINETY NINE.

Philodendron Verrucosum

They look stunning and they’re easy to care for. It’s not their fault they’re impossible to propagate (I’ll crack it one day, I swear) and spider mites love ’em.

So there we have it – several houseplant ideas for Mother’s Day. None of these are very expensive so you can chuck in a nice pot as well (or a bottle of wine).

Caroline Cocker

Caroline is the founder and writer (and plant keeper) of Planet Houseplant

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