Festive shoppers scratch their heads over last - moment Christmas presents should consider gifting a house industrial plant , as figures show December is a peak month for potted purchase . Around one in seven of all houseplants sell in the UK ’s garden center are purchased in the last calendar month of the twelvemonth . Industry body , the Horticultural Trades Association ( HTA ) , says a plant is the perfect direction to celebrate the time of year and has welfare and environmental benefit too .
fresh selective information from the HTA ’s Garden Retail Monitor organization , which collects barcode - level sales datum from UK garden centers , shows that last year ( 2023 ) , 13 % of all houseplant sales in garden centers took berth in December and the industry is expect a similar grade of trade this year .
Laura Loveridge , Market Research Manager at the HTA , enunciate : " A houseplant really is the gift that maintain on giving , normally for many years . Some greenery and color bring in cheer to us all in these darker months as well as continued joy , long after the wrapping paper from other presents has been recycled . This all makes a houseplant a sustainable present in more ways than one , with benefits to genial and physical wellbeing too . "
The benefits to mental and physical well - being that plants supply were research in the HTA ’s ' Value of Plants ' report which showed houseplants have been get hold to boost felicity , productivity , creativeness , concentration , and attending and raise low-spirited stress levels .
Although Poinsettias are often a top choice at Christmas , the HTA advises that some other prime and plant life are well-fixed to worry for in winter . It suggests that different types flourish at this time of yr , let in more tropical species . Dracaenas , Epipremnums ( unremarkably known as Devil ’s Ivy or Pothos ) , and Philodendrons are resilient all year round , but they specially thrive in the wintertime . This is because they are adept at surviving in low scant level , with about 95 % of sunlight being trickle out .
The festive time of year is a vital trading period for the UK ’s garden centers : the HTA find that 11 % of total annual garden centerfield upset in 2023 was made in December , and just over a quarter of garden centerfield sale ( 26 % ) in that calendar month came from their Christmas departments .
It also incur that 3.8 million people buy a real Christmas tree diagram , and 2.4 million bribe an artificial tree diagram in a garden center in 2022 .
For shopper unable to extend to a garden inwardness in time or who are endow from afar , the HTA track down theNational Garden Gift Cardsavailable in garden heart and online . The natural endowment card and e - voucher crop from £ 5 to £ 500 and can be spent in over 1400 positioning across the UK .
For more information : Horticultural Trades Associationwww.hta.org.uk
