When companies are deciding what gifts to give as corporate gifts, not many consider giving living things as gifts. However, plants make excellent gifts for anyone, and they are great because they can be kept at work or taken home. You will always be able to tell who is a bachelor living by themselves if they take the plant you give them as a gift home! Most of management will likely keep theirs in their office, and the extra foliage around the office will improve morale and the atmosphere in the workplace.



Ferns are always popular as corporate gifts, but they have been a little overdone. Giving plants is not always easy, because some people’s tastes might be different. One great idea is to try to find plants that characterize the people you are giving them to. Avoid plants that look like the recipient (as this can result in an inadvertent insult), and go for plants with admirable characteristics such as resilience, fast growth and the ability to thrive under pressure. This will send a message that you appreciate the person you are giving the gift to, and the giving of this gift will strengthen and reinforce business relationships.

If you are giving corporate gifts to management or important clients, it is probably a good idea to go for the highest quality items you can find. No expense is too great for the people who make your business what it is, and buying expensive gifts is a good way of acknowledging that your business is based on people and what they can do. Look for exotic plants (and preferably ones that are not too easy to kill) that people are unlikely to have in their homes or garden.

If you think your staff are up to it, Venus Flytraps or other carnivorous plants make entertaining and involving corporate gifts. Even grown ups never get tired of watching their pet plant catch flies. Encourage all of your staff to name their plant, and run a tally of how many insects each person’s plant has caught. This is a great way to improve staff morale and build a team atmosphere in the workplace. Corporate gifts should serve more purposes than simply promoting your brand.

If you do not think that carnivorous plants would be an appropriate gift for a manager or an important client, there is always the ultimate plant idea for corporate gifts: the Banzai Tree. Banzai trees can be bought from your local supermarket, but technically these are not proper Banzais. Real Banzai trees are only grown in Japan, and live to be over a thousand years old. They can easily be bought online, but look out for imitations! It is best to seek out a Japanese specialty store or a person you know who has connections in Japan. Giving corporate gifts this difficult to track down will leave a very lasting impression on anyone who receives them.