Bearing fruit: Tee attending to calamansi plants, a popular prosperity plant, to be sold ahead of Chinese New Year. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star
PETALING JAYA: From brightening up their homes to giving themselves better feng shui, many people are busy buying prosperity plants ahead of the Chinese New Year festive season.
Vanessa Wong, 63, said she likes to buy prosperity plants to decorate her big family home in Semenyih.
“It gives the house a very nice festive atmosphere that can be enjoyed by all since most of our relatives also like to visit my family during CNY.
“While I have not bought any yet, I definitely plan to begin shopping for them before CNY with a budget of around RM400,” Wong, who is a teacher, said.
Insurance agent Vanessa Chiew, 51, said she mostly buys the plants for feng shui while greening her home.
“They give me good luck, make my home feel brighter with a green contrast and are relatively easy to care for, so there’s no reason not to get them.
“I am considering getting just a new one during CNY promotions to add to my collection at home,” she added.
Electrical engineer Chai Seng, 26, said he likes to collect prosperity plants during Chinese New Year as decorations for his home.
“During CNY, the plants’ designs are usually nicer and better match my home, plus I believe they will bring me even better feng shui if I buy them during this festive season,” he said.
Meanwhile, a supervisor of a plant nursery in Puchong, who only wanted to be known as Tee, said among the most popular of such plants have been their Lucky Bamboo, which he said have been flying off the shelves because they are easy to keep and care for.
“It is a very low maintenance plant which can be kept indoors permanently, and only needs some water now and then,” he said during an interview at the nursery.
Tee said another popular prosperity plant this year has been their limau kasturi, otherwise known as the calamansi plant, which the nursery specially grows in large masses of climbing vines along a circle of long sticks in a pot.
“This method better highlights the growing calamansi fruit as it dangles all around the plant from the vines attached to the sticks.
“It looks especially pretty when the fruits ripen and turn yellow in colour, which symbolises good luck for the Chinese,” he added.
Similarly in demand is the guzmania lingulata, better known as the Scarlet Star plant, which is defined by its vibrant red-orange and star-shaped bracts that grow from the centre of the plant when it matures.
Tee said the bracts make the plant look like a pineapple, which is a symbol of wealth, fortune and prosperity for Chinese New Year, making it the perfect gift.
