25 Gifts for Plant Lovers That Are Unbe-Leaf-ably Useful

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Plant lovers are some of the cutest people out there. Think about it: They’re devoted to caring for li’l green creatures, to the point of posting daily progress reports about their plants on Instagram and ensuring they have all the latest accessories to help them thrive. That being said, the plant connoisseurs in your life deserve an equally cute gift.

Whether their birthday is coming up or you just want to treat them to an unscripted surprise (the best kind!), we’ve rounded up top selections that will honor their green thumb. To make sure our gifting advice here is as on point as can be, we also asked three plant experts—Lindsay Irwin, lead floral designer at PlantShed New York and owner of Briar Rose; Christopher Satch, founder and CEO of NYC Plant Help (providing horticultural consultancy services in New York City); and Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, creator of the Houseplant Guru blog and author of many books on plants—what gifts they would want to receive from loved ones, or else have actually gotten in the past and couldn’t speak more highly of.

Ready to get them something that will knock their stalks off? Read on!

Brass Watering Lance

"This is an expensive gift, but I would love it!" Steinkopf says of the incredibly chic watering wand. "I love all things brass, and this is exceptionally beautiful and useful." Ideal for both indoor and outdoor uses, the made-in-England lance easily attaches to standard hoses and can be used face down or face up, depending on the water's intensity.

Watering Can

Plants need water, and at some point, your repurposed pint glass won't cut it anymore. This one-gallon watering can has a long spout, detachable shower head, and leak-resistance body that both you and your green buddies will appreciate. "A watering can with a long spout is the best," Lisa Eldred Steinkopf tells us. "Of course, this bright green one makes me very happy." Us too!

Jewelers Loupe

You might wonder why gardeners need a trusty loupe. The answer is easy, just ask your plant-loving loved one: this loupe identifies tiny pests that might perch within the folds of a houseplant's leaves or dig into its soil. "Many insects and mites are hard to see with the naked eye," Steinkopf says, explaining why she's such a fan of this tool. "Before treating your plant for anything, it’s best to know what you are dealing with." The loupe here is equipped with 40x magnification and two high-quality, ultra-bright LED lights for maximized visibility.

Unisex Garden Tool Apron

When a gardener has their hands all dirtied up with soil, they're on cloud nine. Clothes, however, are a different story. This waterproof, tear-resistant apron (which comes highly recommended by Steinkopf!) is both cute and practical. Shears, gloves, and shovels can be easily stored inside its many pockets while staying protected in the great outdoors.

Soil Sleuth

"Stop killing your plants," this product's packaging says in all caps, which is real. If your favorite plant lover is known to give their plants a little too much love in the form of water, the Soil Sleuth can come to the rescue. It's a little probe that checks soil moisture levels and actually aerates the soil in the process. "This is a great tool, especially for the new plant parent. It helps you decide whether a large plant needs water, as it pulls soil up from different levels in the container," Steinkopf tells us.

Jardin Zero Waste Flower Tote

This flower tote can hold flowers, yes, but also just-purchased farmers’ market herbs and garden stems. You can hook it on a wall for an instant boost of interior color, while resting assured that you’re helping the world with this purchase, too (it’s made with zero waste design and manufacturing). Per Lindsay Irwin: “I love that this sustainable flower tote doesn’t crush the stems in your bag but makes your flowers an accessory.”

Oncidium Heaven Scent ‘Redolence’

What better gift to surprise a plant lover with than...an actual plant? Christopher Satch received this orchid himself and was instantly obsessed with the fact that it smells like chocolate, being a direct descendent of Oncidium Sharry Baby (even more famous for smelling like you’ve put your whole face in a jar of Nutella). Satch says the plant “blooms three times a year in ideal home conditions” (cool to warm temperatures and dappled to bright indirect light).

Rooted Candles

First, use it as a candle. Then repurpose it as a planter. It’s six ounces of soy-based magic, and the scent (you can pick from rosemary/cucumber or lavender/cedarwood) is another of this candle’s fine qualities. Irwin praises it for being long-lasting, as well as a “great, unexpected gift.” PS: Every purchase comes with a seed package to get you growin’!

DIY Miniature House Kit - Flower House

“This is one of my favorite gifts I’ve given to a plant lover,” Irwin tells us. “It’s like a DIY dollhouse but a greenhouse! Super adorable for a crafty person.” We could not agree more—the kit comes with over 200 pieces (brooms, pots, birdhouses, lamps, etc.) that will help the plant aficionado in your life make a fairytale come to life, all though their own efforts!

Miltoniopsis Ivan Komoda 'Pacific Clouds'

Another live plant alert! According to Hatch, this orchid is “perfect for overwaterers, as it loves to be watered constantly.” It also has a roselike scent (but, in our opinion, is a way cooler gift than any ol’ bouquet of roses). This Amazon purchase comes straight from a certified Hawaiian nursery in a four-inch pot...they’ll adore it!

Garden Journal

This one’s for the serious gardeners out there with a committed journaling habit. The garden journal is packed with sections like the monthly calendar, which breaks down growing tasks and has plant profiles to help organize plant-specific information, a tips section, and so much more. “It’s perfect for a plant lover to keep all their progress in one place!” Irwin says.

Wooden Flower Press

The art of pressing and preserving flowers is a gorgeous, gorgeous thing. You can give your loved one this chance by scoring them a flower press: handcrafted from high-quality wood and equipped with accessories (like bolts and spacers) that will ensure making floral memories is a no-brainer. For an extra charge, you can even personalize it with a name engraving!

Mister

Houseplants love it when you spray their leaves, mimicking the tropical environment many of them once called home. Doing so with a vintage-inspired, ergonomically designed mister is even better. “It’s so aesthetic that you’ll remember to mist your plants that enjoy humidity,” Irwin says. Or just display it as home decor. Either option works.

Begonia ‘Mini Me’

Give this begonia to your own plant-forward mini-me (read bestie or child) and allow them the privilege of caring for the “prolific and resilient” grower. According to Satch, a Begonia is “very vocal when it needs watering” and will “droop and lose color, then restore when watered.” In other words, this plant won’t be playing any games: It’s honest, and its pink flowers (which come out in late winter) are honestly adorable.

Garden Salve

One of the only drawbacks to being a gardener? Chapped hands. However, hands that grow beauty also deserve to be beautiful—so treat theirs with this salve, featuring farm-grown herbs like calendula, comfrey, and plantain. All the natural ingredients, in fact, have some combination of calming, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and regenerative properties. They’ll be thinking of you each time they use this lifesaver of a product! “It’s sustainably made, aesthetically packaged, and smells wonderful,” Irwin tells us. What are you waiting for?

Icons Tiny Plants Set

Here at ELLE DECOR, we collectively lose our minds whenever the latest too-cute-to-be-true Lego set hits the scene, and this one here is no exception. Its nine buildable plants (from arid, tropical, and carnivorous species) are surely ones they’ll never be able to kill. As a bonus, working with nature—albeit, plastic nature—on such a nitty-gritty level inspires an even larger appreciation for it.

Wall Mounted Plant Stand

This oblong-shaped plant stand will make their room It-girl material. Though it can hold anything really (candles, a tiny jewelry box, you name it), droopy-slash-leafy plants like the Golden Pothos are the best bet decor-wise. The stand is sleek, mounts firmly to the wall, and comes in three colors!

Graphite Plantable Pencils

‘The World’s First Plantable Pencil” even sounds like a legitimately cool gift. At the tip of each graphite writing utensil in this pack of eight is a tiny seed capsule. Once your giftee is done with their doodling, they can simply plant the stub in some healthy soil, sit back, and watch their new garden come to life. The pencils come in herb, flower, and even veggie varieties. Joy!

Braiding Sweetgrass

You’ve probably seen this book in the hands of a striking stranger on the subway or in a neighborhood coffee shop. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass is a (very popular) meditation on how humans—in the age of overstimulating technology—can tap back into the wisdom offered by all living things, while celebrating and honoring their role in the world. Unlock your friend/S.O./family member’s ecological consciousness with something as timeless and precious as a book.

Sun Printing Kit

An alternative to pressing grass, leaves, and flowers is to take a ‘forever snapshot” of them via a sun printing kit like this one. All that’s required is some cyanotype paper, direct sunlight, and a firm hand for pressing down with! They’ll be able to flaunt the results as wall art or in the form of a charming greeting card. A perfect summer activity in the works!

Gardening Shears and Pruners

These shears? Shear beauty (our puns take no days off here, it seems). This exact model was actually Irwin’s first set of gardening shears, and she says, “They’re great as clippers for flowers or pruners for plants.” OK, versatile legends! Lightweight, with an ergonomic handle, and featuring a blade capable of cutting even the toughest of branches, the tool is just as good for prettying up a garden as it is for harvesting the basil that grows on your windowsill.

Macodes Petola

Amazon’s collection of live potted plants is seriously impressive. This miniature Petola orchid is small in size but huge in personality (those leaf veins are stunners!). Satch says it’s “great for hotter, drier apartments and homes” (aka the home of your plant-adoring BFF, whose air-conditioning unit is always broken).

Plant Daddy Crew Socks

Ironic, botany-related socks? Yes, please. With its lighthearted pattern of potted plants, this affordable pair is sure to be appreciated by houseplant hoarders who also have a healthy sense of humor.

Decorative Refrigerator Magnets

They’re fanciful, they’re teeny, and they add the perfect touch of succulents to any fridge or whiteboard. The largest of these magnets clocks in at about 26.5 millimeters, but they still do a brilliant job of holding up photos, recipe cards, and little love notes. The ultimate gift combo for your green-thumbed pal? These cacti magnets plus the aforementioned sun printing kit (they can pin up their best creations with ease!).

Sicily Vase 04 Mix

This ceramic, Sicilian-inspired vase—designed by British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi and artist Ivo Bisignano for the brand Serax—is exuberant and full of life. Don’t mistake the multicolored birdlike (or fishlike?) wonder for a nonfunctional objet d’art, however. You can totally use it to arrange locally sourced flowers or eucalyptus branches.

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