Lifestyle occasions
National Houseplant Appreciation Day on 10 January, a small and cheerful day, and what to send someone who keeps plants.
One day, and a deliberately light one: National Houseplant Appreciation Day on 10 January.
It began in the United States as a nudge to look after the plants still sitting around after the Christmas decorations come down, and it has since drifted into wider use. Nobody is under any obligation to observe it, which is rather the point.
Why a small day is worth keeping
Most of the calendar is heavy. Festivals carry obligation, awareness days carry a cause, and memorial days carry grief. A day about houseplants carries nothing at all, which makes it a good excuse to message someone for no reason.
Messages sent for no reason are, reliably, the ones people are most pleased to get. There is no expectation attached and nothing to reciprocate.
What to send
Something specific and slightly ridiculous. The monstera they were given three years ago and have kept alive against the odds. The money plant cutting that came from their grandmother's house and now grows in four flats across two cities. The one they have definitely killed and replaced without telling anyone.
In Indian households the plants often carry more history than the furniture: tulsi at the door, curry leaves in a pot on the balcony, a jasmine that gets carried between rented flats.
If you want a reason to send someone a card without an occasion attached, this is as good a one as any. Good morning wishes makes the same argument about ordinary days, and the Garden is there for a note with no recipient at all.