A garden pro’s three favorite plant gifts

Four years ago, Margaret Roach picked up two nearly identical Paphiopedilum orchids at her local garden center.

Roach, an accomplished garden writer (awaytogarden.com) and a former top editor at Martha Stewart Living, kept one of the orchids for herself, repotting, watering, situating and feeding it according to all the accepted practices.

It bloomed, happily, for about six weeks and never sported another flower.

Roach gave the other to her sister, who plopped it near her desk in its original, too-small container and gave it minimal care.

The orchid rewarded her with four years of nearly continuous blooms.

Here are three of Margaret Roach’s favorite plants to give:

Paphiopedilums: These showy orchids, widely available at garden centers and supermarkets, are surprisingly low-maintenance, although they do best if the pot is soaked in water once a week.

Clivia: Shiny-green foliage and flowers, often orange, that bloom in late winter or early spring; put in a cool room in winter. “You can’t kill it,” Roach says.

Fancy-leaf begonias: Also called rex begonias, the ornamental leaves of these plants can be flushed pink, speckled with white or splashed with red.