Photo credit: @feeypflanzen (via Unsplash)
⇨ Lucky bamboo
Ever seen bright green stalks twisted into elaborate shapes while walking through Lunar New Year flower markets? These are what is known as lucky bamboo (富貴竹; fu3 gwai3 zuk1)—despite its name, this plant isn’t actually part of the bamboo family but rather the Dracaena instead, and is sometimes also known as Devil’s Ivy. It is believed to bring good fortune, and therefore is a very common plant to have in the house over the festive season.
Boost the lucky bamboo’s auspicious qualities by complementing its wood element with the other elements of Chinese tradition: gold-coloured decorative accents such as coins representing the gold element; obviously water for sustaining the plant; red accents, usually a ribbon, representing the fire element; and pebbles in the plant pot for the earth element. Lucky bamboo usually comes neatly bundled in a small tiered tower, and is very easy to care for. Keep out of direct sunlight, make sure the roots are covered with the water changed weekly if growing in water, or water when the top inch of soil gets dry if potted.