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Most people who go looking for a lucky plant are really looking for a way to say something. Good luck in the new job. I know this year has been heavy. I am a long way away and I wish I were not. A living plant carries that better than a card, because it keeps saying it long after a visit would have ended. So you want to get it right.
Type "plants for good luck" into a search bar, though, and you get a thousand versions of the same list. Money tree, lucky bamboo, jade, repeat. Most of those articles were written by people who have never kept one of these plants alive, let alone gotten one across the country to a front door in one piece. I can hear you thinking, so why should this one be any different? Fair question. I am getting there.
I run the words side of Lily's Florist here in the States, and the difference is Joan. Joan spent thirty years on a florist's bench in North Carolina before she started taking our calls, and she has sent more of these so-called lucky plants to more real homes, hospital rooms, and new-business openings than anyone whose blog you will read today. So we are going to do this properly. The tradition behind each plant, the honest truth about what it can and cannot do for you, and Joan's read on which ones are actually worth sending.
We are also going to say the quiet part out loud about the "these plants clean your air" claim, because almost every other article repeats it and the science does not back it up. You deserve the real version. And at the end, Joan narrows the whole thing down to four plants you can order today, because a lucky plant that never leaves the article does nobody any good.
One promise before we start. Nothing here is dressed up. If a plant is fussy, we say so. If it is unsafe around a cat, we say that too, in bold. A cat does not care what a plant symbolizes before it chews the leaves, so the pet-safe picks get called out plainly.
Do lucky plants actually do anything?
Let us split that into two questions, because they have two very different answers.
Does a plant change your luck through some measurable force? There is no evidence for that, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What the belief does do, and this part is real, is give a room something living to tend, a small daily ritual, and a hit of the calm that most people feel around greenery. Feng shui, the Chinese art of arranging a space, and Vastu Shastra, its Indian counterpart, both treat a healthy plant as a way to keep good energy moving through a home. You do not have to believe in chi to feel better walking past a thriving orchid than a bare shelf.
The second question is the one almost every article gets wrong.
You have read that these plants "purify your air." That traces to a 1989 NASA study that sealed plants in small chambers and measured them pulling out gases like formaldehyde and benzene. Real rooms are not sealed chambers. A 2019 review of the research found you would need somewhere between 10 and 1,000 plants per square meter to match those results at home, and the American Lung Association now states plainly that houseplants do not meaningfully clean indoor air. A cracked window does more in ten minutes than a shelf of plants does in a week. So buy them for what they actually give a room: calm, color, and something living to look after. That is the truth, and we would rather you hear it from us.
People ask me if these plants clean the air. The honest answer is no, at least not the way a machine does, and I would rather say that than sell you a myth. What they do is give a room something alive to look after. I have watched a peace lily change how a sickroom feels more times than I can count, and I have never once watched one change the air in it. Send the plant for the feeling. That part is real, and it is plenty.
The six plants, and what each one is really for
Each of these carries a specific reputation. Wealth, love, peace, welcome, endurance, protection. Here is the tradition, the care truth, and Joan's read on every one.
1. Jade: the money plant
The jade is the plant people picture when they say "money plant." Those thick, rounded leaves read as little coins, and feng shui places it in the southeast wealth corner or near the front door to invite prosperity. Vastu calls it a money magnet for the same reason. It is a succulent, so it wants bright light and a drink only when the soil has gone fully dry, roughly every two to three weeks. It is one of the hardest plants in the world to kill, which matters, because feng shui holds that a dying plant is worse luck than no plant at all.
A jade is the closest thing I know to a gift that keeps working. It can sit on a desk for ten years throwing out those coin leaves. Here is the honest part though: we do not stock a living jade plant, so I do not want to point you at something that is not what you searched for. If it is the money-plant meaning you are after and you want it to arrive alive at someone's door, I steer people to the kalanchoe or the bromeliad further down. Same idea, a plant that keeps going, one we can actually put in a van this afternoon.
2. Orchid: love, abundance, a fresh start
In Chinese tradition the orchid is one of the "Four Gentlemen," a symbol of refinement and prosperity, and feng shui uses it to lift family luck and open the door to new opportunity. It is a classic Lunar New Year plant. It wants bright light with no direct sun, and it grows in bark rather than soil, so the reliable routine is a good weekly soak and then let it drain and dry. One myth worth busting while we are here: the popular three-ice-cubes-a-week trick will not harm the plant, the research is clear on that, but a proper weekly soak is the fail-safe most growers trust. And it is genuinely pet-safe, which puts it in a very short club on this list.
The orchid is the one I move people toward when they want the gift to look like they thought about it. Half the callers who ask about it open by telling me they could never keep one alive, and I tell them the same thing every time: an orchid wants a proper soak once a week and then to be left alone. It is the daily splash of water out of guilt, the drowning by kindness, that kills them, almost never neglect. In more than one tradition it stands for love, family, and a fresh start, which covers most of why anybody sends flowers. And when a caller tells me there is a cat in the house, I relax, because this is one I can send in and stop worrying about.
3. Peace Lily: calm and positive energy
The peace lily carries peace right there in its name, and its white bloom reads as a clean, fresh start in almost every culture that meets it. Feng shui ties it to the water element and to calm, settling energy, which is why it lands so well in a bedroom, a home office, or the corner of a room that feels stuck. It is famously forgiving of low light. Its one genuine trick: when it is thirsty it droops dramatically, then stands right back up within hours of a drink, so even a first-time plant owner cannot really fail it. One caution, in bold, because it matters: the peace lily is toxic to cats and dogs if chewed. It is not a true lily, so it does not carry the severe kidney danger that real lilies pose to cats, but it will still upset a pet's mouth and stomach.
The peace lily is the one I reach for when someone is going through something hard. It says peace before you have written a single word on the card, and it forgives everything except a dark room. I tell every first-time sender the same thing: when it wilts right down like it is giving up, that is not you killing it, that is it asking for water. Give it a drink and by that evening it is standing again. It is also the plant I have sent to more funeral homes and recovery rooms than any other, because it holds its quiet white bloom for months, not the few days a cut arrangement gives you. One honest note if it is headed to a hospital: a lot of intensive care, cancer, and transplant wards will not accept a live plant at all, so check with the ward first, and for the home a sympathy plant or hospital-friendly arrangement is the safer send.
4. Bromeliad: welcome and prosperity
That vivid spike of color standing above the leaves is the whole reason a bromeliad reads as good fortune arriving. Across cultures it means welcome, hospitality, and prosperity, which makes it a natural for a housewarming, a new job, or a new neighbor, and the color holds for months where a cut bunch gives you a week. The one quirk worth knowing: a bromeliad drinks from the little cup at the center of its rosette, so you keep that reservoir topped up and let the soil stay on the dry side. And like the orchid, it is pet-safe.
The bromeliad is my pick when the whole point is welcome. It means good things arriving, the color lasts for months, and it earns its place in a home with pets, which narrows the field fast. Just tell whoever receives it to water the little cup in the middle, not the dirt, and it will glow long after cut flowers would have been in the bin.
5. Kalanchoe: enduring fortune and lasting affection
Feng shui calls the kalanchoe a "long-lasting fortune flower" because it blooms for such a long stretch, and in Chinese tradition it is given at Lunar New Year to wish someone prosperity for the year. The colors carry meaning of their own: yellow reads as good luck, red as love, and at Lunar New Year red and gold together stand for joy and an abundance of gold. It is a flowering succulent, so it stores its own water and asks very little: bright light and a drink only when it has dried out. It is one of the most forgiving flowering plants in the whole florist trade. Two honest notes: it hates the cold, so in winter a good florist wraps it and moves fast, and it is toxic to cats and dogs, more seriously than most on this list, so keep it clear of pets.
The kalanchoe is the workhorse of the lucky plants. It will bloom for weeks where cut flowers give you one, and the yellow one especially is about the most forgiving flowering plant I know. I used to send these into recovery rooms and long hospital stays constantly, because a little self-contained pot with no pollen and no vase water clears a lot of ward rules that a bunch of cut flowers never will. It is one of the best-value good-luck gifts we send, and it just keeps going. If there is a pet in the house, that is the moment to switch to the orchid instead.
6. Croton: bold, protective, positive energy
Hot red, orange, and yellow all on a single plant: the croton is the color pick of the group, and those leaves are exactly what feng shui reads as vibrant, positive energy. In Jamaican folk tradition it is a protective plant. It is also the fussiest of the six, and we would rather warn you now: it needs a bright spot to hold those colors, it hates being moved, and it will usually shed a few leaves in its first week in a new home. That is settling in, not dying. It is toxic to pets. But when someone wants energy and color over calm, nothing else here does the job. You can find it on our croton plant page.
The good-luck plant scoreboard
One card each. The luck it carries, where it likes to live, how easy it is to keep, and the one that matters most: whether it is safe around your pets. Screenshot it.
| Plant | Luck it carries | Best placement | Light | Care | Pet-safe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jade | Wealth, steady growth | Southeast corner, front door | Bright, 6h+ | Very easy | No |
| Orchid | Love, new opportunity | Living room, on show | Bright, no direct sun | Moderate | Yes |
| Peace Lily | Peace, positive energy | Bedroom, dark corner | Low to medium | Very easy | No |
| Bromeliad | Welcome, prosperity | Entryway, living room | Bright indirect | Easy, water the cup | Yes |
| Kalanchoe | Enduring fortune | Southeast corner, kitchen | Bright indirect | Easy, succulent | No |
| Croton | Bold, protective energy | Bright, south-facing | Needs light for color | Harder | No |
"A gift that sends someone's pet to the vet is the opposite of good luck. Read the pet column first."Dennis
The feng shui cheat sheet
Stand at your front door looking in and picture your home as a nine-square grid. Feng shui gives each square a job. You do not need a compass or a rulebook. You just need to know that the far-left square from the door is the wealth corner, and a healthy plant by the entrance welcomes good energy in. Here is the short version.
Two are safe. Four are not.
This is the single most important filter on the whole list, and most articles skip it. Toxicity here is from the ASPCA. None of the four are usually fatal, but all four will make a cat or dog that chews them miserable, and the kalanchoe is the one to watch most closely.
Around Lunar New Year the orchids and kalanchoe fly out the door, and it is worth telling you what happens behind the scenes. If your first-choice color has sold through at the florist nearest your recipient, we will call you before we substitute, not after. A red orchid might come back as a deep pink, and we would rather you decide that than open a surprise you did not want. Lunar New Year 2027 lands on February 6, so aim to order in the first days of February, and a few days earlier still if you want a specific color, and you keep the pick of the bench.
Four lucky plants you can actually send today
Six plants, one honest shortlist. These are the four Joan recommends when a caller wants to send luck to a real address, ordered from the easiest, friendliest gift up to the showstopper. Every one is a living plant, hand-delivered by a local florist, not shipped in a box.
Tell me who is opening the door and the right one usually picks itself. Pets in the house, send the bromeliad or the orchid. Somebody going through a hard stretch, the peace lily says it for you. Want the most bloom for the money, the kalanchoe keeps going for weeks. And when you want to walk in and take the room, that is the orchids. Four plants, four kinds of luck.
Which lucky plant should you send? Tap what matters most.
Best value
Enduring fortuneWorried a gift will be wilting in the bin by the weekend? This is the answer. The long-lasting fortune flower blooms for weeks, asks almost nothing, and costs the least on the list, so it is the easy yes when you are not sure. A Lunar New Year classic. Keep it away from pets.
Best for: a new business or promotion, or Lunar New Year.
Send the Kalanchoe →
Pet-safe
Welcome & prosperitySending to a home with a cat or a dog and tired of ruling everything out? Start here. Good fortune arriving in a bamboo box with river rocks, bold color that holds for months, and genuinely safe around pets. The natural housewarming or new-job gift.
Best for: housewarmings and new neighbors.
Send the Bromeliad →
Says it for you
Peace & positive energyWhen you do not have the words, this plant carries them. A generous peace lily in a woven basket, white blooms against deep green, and it forgives a beginner because it droops to tell you when it needs water. The one to send into a hard season. Keep it away from pets.
Best for: sympathy and get-well.
Send the Peace Lily →
Pet-safe
Love, abundance, new beginningsSpending real money and need it to land? This is three living orchid plants in a ceramic pot with Zen river rocks, and they hold their bloom for months instead of the few days cut stems give you, so the value shows the second the door opens and keeps showing. The showstopper, and pet-safe.
Best for: love and milestone moments.
Send the Royal Orchids →Not sure which one fits? Browse the whole living range, or call and a real person (no call center) will help you land on the right plant for the right door.
See all plantsOrder before 1PM and it is delivered this afternoon. Flat $16.95 delivery, USA wide.
One thing worth knowing about how this works. When you order, your plant does not ship from a warehouse. It goes to one of 15,000-plus local florists near your recipient, who builds it and drives it to the door the same day. That is why a plant arrives fresh and standing rather than bruised in a carton. It is also why the 1PM cutoff is real: after that, the local florist's delivery run for the day is already out.
I can hear the next worry, because I have it too every time I send flowers to someone I love. You press pay and then you are in the dark. Here is how that part goes with us. A real person answers the phone, no call center, so if anything looks off you can call (800) 946-5457 and reach someone who can actually chase it down. You get told when it is delivered. And if the recipient goes quiet, that is nearly always a busy day and a plant already sitting on their counter, not a gift gone missing. You are not shouting into a void once you hit order. Someone on our side is watching it land.
Good-luck plant questions, answered straight
What is the luckiest plant for money?
The jade, the classic feng shui money plant, placed in the southeast wealth corner or near the front door. If you want that meaning as a living gift you can send, the kalanchoe and bromeliad carry the same "keeps growing" symbolism and we stock both.
Which lucky plants are safe for cats and dogs?
The orchid and the bromeliad are non-toxic to pets, per the ASPCA. Jade, peace lily, kalanchoe, and croton are all toxic if chewed, so keep those out of reach.
Do these plants really clean the air?
Not in a real room. The famous claim comes from a sealed-chamber NASA test, and you would need hundreds of plants to see the effect at home. They are wonderful for calm and mood, not as air filters.
What is the best lucky plant to give as a gift?
For a home with pets, an orchid or bromeliad. For a new business or a new house, the money-plant symbolism of a kalanchoe. For someone unwell or stressed, a peace lily. Joan's four picks above are chosen exactly for this.
Where should I place a lucky plant in my house?
Feng shui favors the southeast corner for wealth and a healthy plant near the front door to welcome energy in. Keep wealth plants out of bathrooms, and never keep a dying plant, since that is held to work against you.
Further reading
If you are sending a plant to mark a moment, these help you get the rest of it right.
Luck is nicer when it turns up at the door. Send one of Joan's four, or explore our good-luck flowers and plants and pick your own.
Send a lucky plantSame-day when you order before 1PM weekdays or 10AM Saturdays.
Lily's Florist delivers across the USA through a network of 15,000-plus local partner florists. Real people answer the phone, no call centers. Same-day delivery when you order before 1PM weekdays or 10AM Saturdays. Questions? Call (800) 946-5457 or email [email protected].
About the authors
Written by Dennis and reviewed for floristry by Joan, drawing on the product knowledge behind every plant Lily's sends. Read our full story.
Dennis and family.
Sources
Symbolism and placement: Homes & Gardens (jade, orchid, peace lily feng shui); Thursd and Feng Shui Simply (wealth corner, Lunar New Year plants); WoodenStreet and AnytimeAstro (Vastu). Air quality: American Lung Association; ScienceAlert on the 2019 Cummings and Waring review; the 1989 NASA Clean Air Study. Pet safety: ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists (jade, peace lily, kalanchoe, phalaenopsis orchid) and Pet Poison Helpline (croton). Care: The Almanac (jade), Just Add Ice and Greenhouse Grower (orchid), Joyus Garden and The Sill (bromeliad). Product detail and delivery facts from Lily's Florist USA.
