Give your valentine a heart-shaped bamboo plant instead of roses this year

Chocolate and roses may be the classic Valentine’s Day gifts, but if you’re looking for something different to give your valentine this year, how about a potted heart-shaped bamboo?

From 1-800-Flowers.com, the unique gift comes in a glass cube vase filled with rocks. Ranging in price from $34.99 to $66.99, the bamboo heart comes in either single, double or triple hearts, and with or without a heart-shaped box of chocolate. You can also get one with a stuffed panda or an orchid.

(Side note: You may want to pass along some information to your gift recipient on how to care for bamboo as well, as it has certain specific needs.)

If you’d rather make your own bamboo heart, the website SFGate has instructions on how to do so, but fair warning: It’ll take a bit of work. You will have to grow the bamboo into a heart shape, not shape it once it’s grown, so it may take several months of caring for it to get the correct shape.

To get the bamboo to grow how you want it, you’ll need to shield some of the plant from sunlight with cardboard, which forces it to grow in only one direction. You’ll then have to switch which side is facing the light to have it grow the other way.

All this work means you won’t be able to grow a heart-shaped bamboo this year, but if you start now, you should be able to have one for Valentine’s Day 2022.

If bamboo doesn’t seem like something your valentine would like, there are plenty of other romantic plants available to gift your beloved. Online plant store The Sill will ship all sorts of plants within the contiguous U.S. (48 states), including this pair of heart-shaped succulents.

For $45, you can get this sweet little duo, already potted in earthenware planters with matching saucers.

And, of course, 1-800-Flowers.com also offers a variety of other Valentine’s Day options, like a bouquet of lilies (with or without a necklace), tulips and classic roses. You can even order potted plants, like a calla lily plant or a bonsai tree that comes with a wind chime.

If your valentine would prefer flowers that last longer than a week or so, you can also buy preserved roses, which don’t require watering and last for up to a year.

Priced from $60 to $275, you can get the preserved roses on their own or with Swarovski crystals or a linked-hearts necklace with cubic zirconia embellishments and 18k yellow gold.

What will you be giving to your valentine this Valentine’s Day?