Lunar New Year is almost upon us again, and what better way to celebrate it than with orchids? Lunar New Year, sometimes called Chinese New Year, is a major holiday and reason for celebration in Asia and around the world. Besides buying new clothing and lucky foods, many people will also fill their homes with lucky plants and flowers in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year. This is because lucky plants bring good fortune for the new year.
Orchids are considered very lucky plants. People often decorate their homes and businesses with orchids during Lunar New Year or give them as gifts. Purple, red, pink, or coral colored orchids are best for good fortune. Likewise, double-stemmed orchids are considered luckier than single-stemmed orchids. For abundance and prosperity in the new year, be sure to buy an orchid in the days leading up to the new year celebration.
Keep reading to learn more about how you can use orchids to bring you good luck in the new year. I’ll go over how to pick an orchid that will bring you the most luck and which orchids to avoid. You’ll also get some ideas about other lucky plants you can buy for Lunar New Year.
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Celebrate Lunar New Year With Orchids
Lunar New Year is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, holiday of the year in Asia. It is celebrated across much of Asia, in numerous countries, and in other parts of the world. Preparations begin at least a month in advance, with people buying gifts, decorations, new clothing, and lucky foods. Businesses and restaurants shut down for this two-week holiday. Families travel across the country to gather with loved ones and celebrate.
Lunar New Year is also sometimes called Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival. It starts on the day of the second new moon following the winter solstice on December 21st. The actual start date for Lunar New Year varies each year, but it usually begins in late January or February, and continues with 15 days of festivities and celebrations, before ending with the full moon celebration.
One of the most common plants and flowers that people buy and gift during Lunar New Year are orchids. Giving lucky plants, such as orchids, to others can generate good will. It can foster positive relationships between friends, family, and acquaintances for the year ahead.
Potted orchids are one of the most popular gifts given during this time. You can find potted orchids in abundance in every flower market and flower shop in Asia in the days leading up to this major holiday.
Are Orchids Lucky?
Absolutely! Orchids are definitely considered lucky. Orchids symbolize beauty, fertility, luxury and wealth. Many orchids can bloom on multiple flower spikes, signifying abundance and prosperity.
Flowers are representative of new life, new beginnings and the coming spring. As a result, many families fill their homes with orchids and other flowers for good luck. Orchids are a must-have for the Lunar New Year!
How To Pick The Best Orchid For Lunar New Year
Phalaenopsis orchids are the most commonly sold orchids, making them the easiest to find. They come in a wide variety of colors and can bloom for up to 16 weeks at a time. The long-lasting blooms help promote the notion of longevity and lasting beauty.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should be limit yourself to Phalaenopsis orchids. Any orchid, whether it be a Dendrobium, Cymbidium, Oncidium, or Cattleya orchid, would be an amazing gift to give someone (or yourself!) for Chinese New Year.
But first, how to choose the right orchid? You want one to signify luck and fortune for the new year.
When choosing an orchid to decorate your home for the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, consider the color of the orchid, its overall health, and the number of blooms and flower spikes.
Lucky Orchid Colors
You may think that all blooming orchids are equally lucky, but that is actually not the case.
The most auspicious, or luckiest, color is purple, if you can find it. Blooming purple or violet orchids are rare and hard to find, so if you see an orchid that is naturally purple or violet and not artificially dyed, buy it. You can use violet or purple orchids to increase your success in your career or business, especially when placed in the career area of your home.
The next luckiest color is red. Pink, coral, orange or red orchids can be found in abundance anytime, but especially during the Lunar New Year.
In Asian culture, red often symbolizes luck, prosperity, wealth, and good fortune. These colors can also symbolize passion and romance, improving your love life in the new year.
To learn more about orchid color and feng shui, check out this article on how to use orchid color to improve feng shui. There are also specific places in your home where you can put your orchids to boost feng shui.
Orchid color and orchid placement are two ways you can easily use orchids to improve your feng shui and luck, especially during the Lunar New Year. What better way to start off the new year, than with lucky orchids?
Buy A Healthy Orchid
This may seem obvious, but choosing a beautiful and healthy and lucky-colored orchid is not always easy. When you are buying an orchid, whether for yourself or as a gift, don’t just look at the blooms. You need to do a thorough inspection of the leaves, flower spikes, roots, and so on.
If you are new to orchids and are buying an orchid as a gift, check out this beginner’s guide to buying an orchid. This will walk you through how to choose a healthy orchid and help you avoid buying a dud. If you are new to orchids, here are also some tips for caring for your new orchid, including basic care instructions.
Multiple Flower Spikes
During the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, choose an orchid with more than one flower spike. This shouldn’t be difficult to find, since many orchid growers will be selling “double-stemmed” orchids during this time.
The more flower spikes the orchid has, the better. Multiple flower spikes on the orchid symbolize abundance, prosperity, and good fortune.
When choosing an orchid with more than one flower spike, be sure to look at the number of open blooms and flower buds on the flower spike. Select an orchid with a good mix of both. You’ll be able to enjoy the open blooms now, and as the flower buds open up and bloom over the next few weeks, they will extend the beauty of the orchid even longer.
Just be aware that orchid flowers can sometimes fall off early. Bud blast or early flower loss can occur due to shock, gases, or major changes in the orchid’s environment.
If you are buying your orchid to increase your luck and fortune in the new year, it is obviously not lucky when all the flowers fall off within days! Learn more about why orchid flowers fall off early here and what you can do to avoid this unlucky event from occurring.
What To Avoid When Buying An Orchid For The Lunar New Year
If you want to maximize your luck and good fortune during the new year (and frankly, who doesn’t?), you’ll want to avoid making these mistakes when picking your orchid.
Don’t Choose A Sick Or Unhealthy Orchid
This should be obvious, but sometimes pests and disease may not be apparent when you are first looking at your orchid. As I mentioned above, give your orchid a thorough inspection while in the store.
Among other things, look for any pests, signs of disease, broken leaves or dried up roots. Use this guide to buying an orchid to help you know what to look for.
Color Matters
I mentioned some lucky colors above, but did you know there are also some unlucky colors you should avoid? Namely, avoid white orchids.
White flowers are commonly seen in funerals and are associated with death. In Chinese culture, the color white is sometimes considered an unlucky color for this reason.
During the Lunar New Year, you want to avoid buying or gifting white orchids to others, as this can represent sickness, death and bad luck. Definitely not the message you want to be sending in the new year.
In addition, avoid blue orchids. This is because most blue orchids sold out on the market are actually white orchids which have been artificially dyed blue. The artificial dye color lasts only for a season, and the following year, those orchids will produce white flowers.
That said, during most any other time of the year, blue and white orchids are perfectly fine to buy and gift. But in this case, I’m focusing on the Lunar New Year and for this occasion, you want to maximize luck and good fortune with your orchid selection.
Don’t Give Cut Orchid Flowers
Cut flowers of any kind should never be given as a Lunar New Year gift. Cut flowers represent “cut life,” or a life that is shortened. It is seen as very unlucky to give and receive cut flowers as a gift during the Lunar New Year celebrations.
If you want to gift an orchid, make sure that it is a living, potted orchid. No matter how pretty those cut orchid stems are, don’t gift them during the Lunar New Year. There are many other times where cut flowers may be appropriate, such as funerals, but not during the new year celebrations.
Other Lucky Plants For Lunar New Year
Besides orchids, there are a number of other plants that you can purchase to bring you luck and prosperity during the Lunar New Year. These plants also happen to grow well with orchids and make great companion plants for your indoor garden.
Yellow Chrysanthemums
Yellow chrysanthemums symbolize wealth and prosperity. These flowers are incredibly popular during the Lunar New Year. The yellow color looks like gold, and the numerous petals imply abundance.
In addition, these flowers represent longevity. Yellow chrysanthemums are often given to older members of the family to wish them a long life.
If you are buying chrysanthemums, make sure you get the yellow variety, not white. White chrysanthemums, like white orchids, are often used in funeral decor, and are considered bad luck during this holiday.
Lucky Bamboo
Bamboo plants are lucky plants to have in the home. These plants are a symbol of good luck and prosperity.
Even better, bamboo plants are relatively easy to take care of and go well with your orchids. You can even decorate your bamboo with red ribbons or gold ornaments to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Did you know that the number of bamboo stalks in a pot have different meanings? For example:
- Two bamboo stalks together signify love and togetherness.
- Three bamboo stalks together represent happiness or good luck in one’s career.
- Four is an unlucky number (sounds like the word for “death” in Mandarin), so you won’t find four stalks of bamboo together in a pot.
- Five bamboo stalks represent wealth.
- Six bamboo stalks stand for good luck and fortune.
- Seven bamboo stalks potted together symbolize health.
- Eight is a lucky number, and eight bamboo stalks planted together represent growth, abundance, and immense fortune.
You can place your lucky bamboo anywhere in your home. Just make sure it gets enough light and air circulation to prevent yellowing of the stalks or mold and fungal growth.
Pilea Plants
Pilea peperomioides plants are easy to take care of and are considered very lucky. They like well-draining soil. Water them when the top layer of soil is dry. Their bright, green leaves are shaped like coins, representing wealth and prosperity.
What’s more, pilea plants are easy to propagate and readily grow “pups.” You can divide these pups from the mother plant and give them away to friends and family. This is the plant that keeps on giving!
Pilea plants are thought to bring good fortune and money to its owner and are often gifted for this reason.
Money Tree
The money tree is a popular plant in Asia, with its twisted trunk and bright green tropical-looking foliage. Having a money tree in the home can bring positive energy, increase feng shui, and improve it’s owner’s luck. For this reason, money trees make popular gifts and can often be seen in places of business.
Money trees have similar care requirements to Phalaenopsis orchids, making this a perfect companion plant for your orchids. Like orchids, these are safe to have in your home if you have cats or dogs.
Jade Succulents
The jade plant, also known as Crassula ovata or Crassula argentea, has many names. It is also known as a money plant, or lucky plant.
The jade plant is a succulent with thick, shiny, deep green leaves shaped like coins. The leaves resemble small pieces of jade, a precious stone used in many types of Asian jewelry.
Jade plants are easy to care for, simply needing lots of bright, indirect light and occasional watering.
These succulents are also a great companion plant for your orchids, as their care needs are fairly similar.
Jade plants are considered to be a good luck plant, used for attracting wealth and money. These are excellent feng shui plants. You will often find them near the entrances of businesses or in front of one’s office or near the office door. They are even sold as jade bonsai, for a unique twist on this lucky plant.
Final Thoughts
Orchids are a wonderful gift to give during the Lunar New Year. They are not only beautiful and have long-lasting blooms, but are symbols of luck, beauty and prosperity. These lucky plants can be found in abundance in many shops in the days leading up to the new year celebration.
After the Lunar New Year celebrations are over and your orchid has lost all of its blooms, don’t throw it away just yet. Provided that the leaves are still green and the roots plump and firm, it is still alive. You can find out how to care for an orchid after the flowers have fallen off here. With the right care, your orchid will live and continue to grow, producing blooms again the following year, just in time for the next Lunar New Year celebration.
As always, happy orchid growing!
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