A housewarming plant gift is the rare present that is still in the house a year later. The candle gets burned, the bottle gets drunk, the throw pillow gets quietly rehomed. The plant is on the shelf, a little bigger than when it arrived, and it is the thing that makes the new place start to feel like a place.
That is worth choosing carefully.
for a new address
Fresh Starts
Thirteen plants for a first apartment, a new job, or starting over.
From $16, free shipping over $90
Find their plantStart with what the move means, not with what looks good
Most plant shopping starts with a species. You look at pictures, you pick a shape you like, you hope it survives.
Try the other direction. A move is never only a move. It is a first apartment after a long time wanting one. It is a promotion in a city where nobody knows them. It is a divorce that ended well. It is a person starting over with a very small amount of furniture and a great deal of nerve.
Once you know which of those it is, the plant picks itself.
For a first home, or a first anything
The pothos means new beginnings, and it is the easiest plant on this list to keep alive. It grows toward whatever light it can find, from almost nothing. For someone who has never kept a plant, or who is not sure they are the kind of person who keeps plants, this is the one that proves them wrong. Send new beginnings.
The parlor palm is welcome, literally. It is the plant that made Victorian parlors feel like a room you were invited into, and it asks for very little in return. Good for a small apartment and a smaller budget. Welcome them properly.
For a new job or a new venture
The money tree carries prosperity and good energy, with a hand braided trunk that looks like somebody meant it. It is the traditional gift for a new business or a new office in a lot of places, and it holds up under that expectation. Send a money tree.
The ti plant has been planted by the door for luck and protection for generations. If the new place needs a blessing more than it needs decor, this is it. Luck by the door.
For a bigger life, not just a bigger apartment
The monstera means abundance and expansion. Its leaves split open as it matures, which takes time and is exactly the point. It is a statement plant for someone whose life just got larger. Send abundance.
The fiddle leaf fig is a fresh chapter with a capital letter. It is the plant people photograph. It wants a bright spot and a little attention, so give it to someone who will enjoy having something to fuss over. A fresh chapter.
The Swiss cheese vine means room to become. Its leaves open up as it matures, slowly, on its own schedule. For a move that is really about a person growing into something, it is the quieter and better choice. Room to become.
They are all in the Fresh Starts collection.
The seven in this post
What to write when you barely know them
Housewarming gifts often go to colleagues, in-laws, and friends of friends. You want warmth without overreaching.
- A green thing for a new address.
- Congratulations. May it outgrow the apartment.
- Something alive for the empty corner.
- Here is to the next chapter, and to a plant that survives it.
The meaning card handles the sentiment for you. The front names what the plant stands for and tells its story in a few lines, and your message goes inside. You do not have to be clever, because the card already did that part.
A few practical things
Send it after the move, not before. Nobody wants to pack a plant.
If they are moving far, a plant is a genuinely thoughtful thing to arrive at the new address rather than something else to fit in the car. We ship across the United States, packed by hand, with a heat pack in cold months.
And if the new place is dark, say so and pick accordingly. A pothos or a parlor palm will manage a north facing room. A fiddle leaf fig will sulk and then complain about it.
Browse Fresh Starts, or see every plant we grow if the moment you are shopping for is something else entirely.
still there a year later
Fresh Starts
The candle gets burned. The plant is on the shelf, a little bigger than when it arrived.
From $16, free shipping over $90
Find their plantWe write one of these a week.
One plant, what it means, and who to send it to. No offers, no noise.