The Year of the Snake starts 29 January 2025.
It's a good year for personal transformations - just as the snake sheds its old skin to grow a fresh new one - and for learning from the past to build a healthy future.This could be the year to plant your dream garden, and make it your reality! Snakes are clever, crafty, and creative, preferring to reflect and rest than confront with action. The Snake sign's lucky colours are shades of calming restful blue and green - so why not grow a garden full of rare blue flowers, and lush shady green hedges?
Year of the Snake
To celebrate the Year of the Snake you could nurture some snake-themed plants to bring you lunar luck. Like these four!
Clockwise from top left:easy-to-grow indoor favourite snake plant, Sansevieria, which will also grow outside in a subtropical climate - like a snake it can travel along the ground, propagating itself by runners from the roots; the colourfully-patterned snakeskin plant, Fittonia, cute petite indoor plants which, like snakes, love a terrarium to thrive in; rattlesnake plant Calathea lancifolia, gorgeously patterned leaves and a lush indoor or tropical garden plant for shady borders; and native snake vine, aka golden guinea Hibbertia scandens, a fast-growing scrambling vine, to bring good fortune to every garden.
Lucky Lunar New Year Plants
Golden fruits are said to bring coin luck
Lucky Lunar New Year plants traditionally resemble gold coins of fortune - they're fat, round, and yellow.
Especially citrus plants - such as kumquat, citrange, sweet orange, mandarin and lemon trees.Other golden round fruits are also sought-after, such as pineapples, and golden passionfruit.
Gold-flowered plants
These round golden daisy flowers stand in for true golden coin treasure, and promise riches in the months to come. Even if you don't get actual riches, you'll have a garden full of glowing golden blooms, which is a windfall in itself!
Chrysanthemums and their relatives Anthemis, or dyer's chamomile, traditionally bring good luck;, and symbolise the Chrysanthemum Throne of the Japanese royal family, which uses the lucky flower as their symbol.
Golden gazanias are a great choice for big round golden flowers, and easy to grow in most Aussie climates. Golden orange marigolds and paper daisies - aka everlasting flowers - represent long life. Plant native everlastings - like strawflower, paper daisy and fat round golden billy buttons - and you could become immortal!
Look out for plants with 'gold' in their name
These bring you good fortune in the coming year. We suggest Gold Rush grevillea, Gold Malay ixora, Golden Fountain flowering sage, Golden Magic gardenia, and Asteriscus Gold Coin, sure to bring you riches, for starters. Cheaper than a scratchie or lotto ticket, and you win with flowers every time!You can find more
yellow and gold-flowered plants, and
plants with golden foliage here,
to fill your garden with good luck, year after year.
Red is a very auspicious colour
Symbolising fire, the colour red represents life and energy, and wards off evil. Red flowers and red foliage make it easy to bring this life-giving lucky colour into your garden. The native firewheel tree (Stenocarpus), and Illawarra flame tree (Brachychiton) are coming to the end of the midsummer blaze of scarlet flower at this time of year.They're both tall, but slender enough to fit in many garden spaces.
Plants with 'fire' in the name
These can bring positive energy to your garden, and keep bad spirits away. Flowers resembling hanging clusters of firecrackers, used as decoration at this time of year, are auspicious.We like Jacobinia Firefly; red-and-yellow Fireworks grevillea, and especially Russelia, commonly known as firecracker plant , flowering right now.Discover more
red-flowered plants, and
plants with red foliage,
to fill your garden with good luck all year round.
Chinese Zodiac Lucky Plants
Each of the twelve zodiac signs has its own "lucky plants" - find out what yours are here.Look for the year you were born - remember lunar new year starts late January/early February so it might be different to your birth year if you were born around this time. Why not plant one in your garden and see if your fortune changes? At the very least, you'll get lovely flowers or leaves to enjoy, maybe some shade or scent - and that's pretty good luck!
RAT
- 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 : lily, African violet (Saintpaulia)OX
- 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 : tulip*, Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema)TIGER
- 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 : yellow lily and tiger lily*, anthuriumRABBIT/CAT
- 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 : hosta, fittonia, jasmineClockwise from top left: Lilies for Rats, Aglaonema for Oxen, Anthurium for Tigers, Fittonia for Rabbits
DRAGON
- 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 : bleeding heart vine (Clerodendrum), larkspurSNAKE
- 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 : orchid, passionflower, cactusHORSE
- 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 : calla lily*, jasmine, marigoldGOAT/SHEEP
- 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 : carnation, primroseClockwise from top left: Bleeding Heart vine for Dragons, Passionflower for Snakes, Jasmine for Horses, Carnation for Goats
MONKEY
- 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 : chrysanthemum, crepe myrtle, alliumsROOSTER
- 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 : gladiolus*, celosia, impatiensDOG
- 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 : rose, cymbidium orchidPIG
- 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019 : daisy, hydrangea, pitcher plant *You'll find these plants in our Bulbs section when it's the time to plantClockwise from top left: Crepe Myrtle for Monkeys, Gladiolus for Roosters, Rose for Dogs, Hydrangea for Pigs
Out With the Old, In With the New
It is traditional in the days before New Year to clean and tidy your house, to sweep away any bad luck from the previous year and make room for fresh good luck. It's a perfect time to tidy the garden too :- deadhead bushes like buddleia, rose, and hydrangea that have finished flowering
- chop back herbaceous perennials such as salvia and lavender
- and tackle weeds that have sprouted after summer showers
