Year of the Tiger Floral Ideas for Chinese New Year

By Jill Brooke

It’s now the Year of the Tiger for the Chinese New Year which is a two-week celebration of cultural traditions. 

This week’s celebration marked the end of the Year of the Ox and the start of the Year of the Tiger. It hasn’t been the Year of the Tiger since 2010.

Experts say that the tiger is associated with bravery, courage, and strength as well as offering hope for the future. 

The Chinese calendar has 12 animals representing each year in the order of  Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

And this is also the year that the Chinese New Year might become the next federal holiday in the US. 

Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, has sponsored a bill that would make the day — celebrated this year on Feb. 1 throughout China, parts of Asia and Asian communities worldwide — the 12th federally commemorated holiday in the US. It would be the first since President Joe Biden signed a bill establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday in June last year.

“It really sends a strong signal to the Asian American community — as the fastest-growing population in this country — that they are valued and seen as [part of] the fabric that makes up this country,” Meng told The Washington Post.

We think that’s a great idea since some of our beloved flowers like peonies, chrysanthemums and the lotus hail from ancient China. 

As someone whose love of flowers was sparked by Pei Lin Yu, who helped me raise my son Parker, I always honor the Chinese New Year and her. 

To commemorate the holiday, I am including some interpretations by Oscar Mora and Gotham Florist’s Liang Shu – as well as sharing an orchid that is nicknamed for its resemblance to –  you guessed it – a tiger and a tiger lily.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD and floral editor for aspire design and home magazine and contributor to Florists Review magazine.