20 Gardening-Themed Songs for Plant Lovers

I was the lead singer and keyboardist for a local band in a former life. We coined our style of music psychedelic trip-hop. This was largely due to our amazingly talented guitarist. Although I may have retired my synthesizer and dark moody lyrics and late nights in our local art scene, I never lost my love of good music. Instead, my music passion now supports my plant passion *ahem* obsession.

Challenging myself to build a flower-power playlist of curated gardening-themed music has become a practice similar to my plant watering and maintenance days. Whether you are a gardening and flower enthusiast with a large collection like myself or only have a few plants, here is an hour of sun, water, air, earth, flower, love, and beauty themed songs to keep you moving and not frustrated when you find a brown leaf or spend hours selecting the right pot for your plant that desperately needs to be repotted. It’s all a part of the fun of gardening, right? What will you listen to? If you’re looking for music for plants, this is the list for you.

I appreciate a good mix of music, so these are some of my favorite options across genres. If this series does well, I’ll follow up with more playlist options in the future.

Interested in my selection criteria? Read on…if you’re just ready to listen to the music, scroll to the bottom of the page or visit my Spotify profile.

#20 Garden (Say It Like Dat) By SZA

The title of the song is Garden…not I say more?

“Need you for the old me
Need you for my sanity
Need you to remind me where I come from
Can you remind me of my gravity?
Ground me when I’m tumblin’, spiralin’, plummetin’ down to Earth
You keep me down to Earth”

#19 B Sun E (Orange) By Finkel

For more information on Finkel, check out their website.

#18 🍒 By Lana Del Rey

I’m not sure exactly what Lana Del Rey is talking about in this song, but it sounds deliciously bad…cherries, wine, peach, rosemary, thyme. I’ll have 2.

#17 Roses By SAINt JHN

A few notes from Wikipedia on this song, “Roses” is a song by American rapper Saint Jhn, originally released on July 22, 2016, and later included on his 2018 album Collection One. The remix of the song is higher pitched and helped the song gain international recognition after it was featured on a Snapchat filter and on video-sharing app TikTok where it received over 4.5 billion plays in April 2020.

#16 Pomegranate By Deadmau5

This is a dance around in your undies watering can in hand type of song.

“It’s shining like three seeds of pomegranates in my hands
It’s just us that’s on this beach and all this sand
All of this water
I know but damn
I know we ain’t supposed to touch it
We only live once ma’am (sparkle for me)”

Enjoy the video.

#15 Sunflower By Harry Styles

Harry Styles has continued to grow as an artist, and with the latest album’s (Fine Line) goal being an album you can listen to from “top to bottom” or beginning to end, this is one of my favorites.

“Your flowers just died
Plant new seeds in the melody”

is an amazingly forgiving lyric. This is especially true for those who have managed to lose a few plants on our road to becoming plant gods or goddesses.

#14 Pine & Ginger By Amindi

Amindi is a Jamaican singer and firstborn immigrant that feels making music is a form of self-healing. I love the energy of this song. Feel free to hum your own pairing… champagne and orange juice #mimosalife

#13 Water By Kanye West

I know Kanye has been controversial in recent years, but it’s hard to deny his talent. This song is from his Sunday services and always makes me smile when it plays while I’m gardening. It’s just a solid song.

#12 Weeds By Marina

For this song to be about weeds, it’s really gorgeous. That miss all of my exes line hits different when you’re thinking about your plant graveyard.

#11 I Want You by Savage Garden

Overbudget, no more space, no such thing. This one is for those of us that have a flower budget that rivals our food and living expenses.

#10 NTWFL by Sam Dew

Remember when I said I was in a band…

Well, there was another local band at the time called, Cloudeater. Although they are no longer making music together, I adored their music. Their lead singer, Sam Dew, recently released a new album. So this one is for the local Atlanta music scene and going on to do bigger and better things in life. Add a sample of “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D, and it’s just *chef’s kiss*

#9 Needed Me By Rihanna

There is nothing like the feeling of bringing a plant back to life. This one is for the nerve and carnivorous plants. The ones who need you to survive. Something is empowering in supporting the “big 3” for a beautiful living being.

#8 Loving You Is Easy By Sarah McLaughlin

No gardening playlist is complete without at least one Sarah McLachlan song. She is like the earth mother of music along with Joni Mitchell, Paula Cole, and Natalie Merchant. This song is definitely not celebrating the ferns, the orchids, or peace lilies who are the dramatic prima donnas of any collection. This is for the ZZ's and the sansevierias and the philodendrons that are low maintenance. and “just vibe”. The ones who are forgiving and don’t make you feel like a total and utter failure.

#7 Wonder Shawn Mendes

If loving you is easy is for the plants that just vibe, this song is for the ones that will give a complex and make you feel like a horrible person. The ones that make you question heaven, hell, and all existence. Sometimes I just wonder what it would be like if my heart fern just loved me…

#6 Air By CloZee

Ooey-gooey trippy song about air…

#5 Kiss from a Rose By Seal

I contemplated not adding another rose-themed song. We all know there is nothing more pedestrian than a rose when plants like the alocasia plumbea exist. But a kiss from a rose is just so good, I couldn’t resist I’m old enough to remember the scene from Batman…

#4 Bloom By Troye Sivan

This song is everything you want a floral and gardening them song to be.

#3 Daisies by Katy Perry

I don’t care that people judge my plant collection that has grown to over 200 plants.

#2 Big Yellow Taxi By Counting Crows

“Big Yellow Taxi” is a song written, composed, and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in 1970. This song has a great vibe but speaks to being environmentally conscious. I’m a firm believer that plant people can find creative ways to be mindful of the environment. Recycle your plastic grower pots, recycle and use rainwater, start composting, plant a milkweed plant for every butterfly plant, grow your own veggies and herbs, buy living plants instead of cut flowers….leave me the birds and the bees…

#1 Scars to Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara

I know when I’m watering plants, I often find little imperfections and scars on my plants. I feel these give your plants character. Now if you identify an issue like over or under watering, infections, or insects, please address them. Plants are living things with scars and imperfections just like humans — this doesn’t change our beauty and it doesn’t change the beauty of our plant friends either.

We all have that one plant that’s been over or under watered. It’s worn. It’s torn. But those imperfections only add to its beauty. For me, that plant is my Grey Star Calathea. We have an understanding and mutual respect.

And with lyrics like the ones below that so beautifully sum up those feelings, “Scars to Your Beautiful” holds my #1 spot.

“But there’s a hope that’s waiting for you in the dark
You should know you’re beautiful just the way you are
And you don’t have to change a thing
The world could change its heart
No scars to your beautiful
We’re stars and we’re beautiful”

What are your favorite songs to listen to when you are tending to your garden or caring for your indoor green babies?

Warning: I’m assuming we’re all adults here. Some of these songs do have explicit lyrics. Most streaming services have an edited version for everyone if that better suits your sensibilities.