19 Best Gifts for Plant Lovers and Gardeners (2026)

Ostensibly, plant lovers and gardeners should be the easiest people to shop for. Just get them a plant, right? Wrong. (Well, most of the time.) I review indoor hydroponic gardens for WIRED and have been a proud plant parent for almost 30 years, so I can say that even if you have a running mental catalog of all your recipients’ plants and know which ones they don’t yet have, you may not know what they have space for, or what they’re looking to switch up to this gardening season. In general, the best gifts are ones that work with the plants and garden they already have, or that help them care for them. I’ve dug through the dirt to vet, research, and real-world test gifts that will earn their keep, whether your recipient has a single cactus on a windowsill or a multi-acre farm. For more gift ideas, check out our other gift guides, including Gifts for Bird Lovers, Gifts for Coworkers, Gifts for Book Lovers, and the Best Flower Delivery Services. Updated September 2026: I’ve added a self-watering planter and a self-watering raised garden bed, gift boxes from Happy Happy Houseplant, monstera deliciosa candy, water-storing crystals, and an all-purpose garden tool. I’ve also ensured up-to-date links and prices. Plants as Art It’s difficult to overstate just how cool this 32" x 5" x 11" metal grow-light frame looks in person, which was inspired by shadowbox planters the creator saw in Paris. It not only adds a sleek, contemporary vibe to just about any home decor style, but it also isn’t as bright as a traditional grow light, so it’s not disruptive to keep in your living space. You can set an on-and-off schedule and adjust the brightness in Modern Sprout’s app, or just turn it on and off manually with a switch on the 9-foot cord. The light can accommodate fruiting, flowering, or vegetative plants, such as herbs; I use it to display succulents (and a random N’Joy pothos cutting). Note that it weighs 8 pounds by itself, and the included mounting hardware does not have drywall anchors. You may want to grab some at the hardware store, as I did. For Foolproof Planting Sol Soils products are on the pricier side, but if you know a plant lover who has a black thumb—or who just appreciates the best of the best—this line of specialty houseplant potting mixes, additives, and amendments is among the best I’ve ever tried. The houseplant chunky mix ($13) looks like an odd jumble of coconut husk chips, bark, pumice, and other bits and bobs, but it has saved many an ailing seedling in my household from the brink of death. Especially when paired with the Repot Recovery ($13) repotting shock treatment and Monthly Myco Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculant ($13), a beneficial fungus that will help roots better absorb nutrients. All Sol Soils products are available for purchase individually, but if you’re not sure what your giftee may want or need, the themed gifting bundles are a great place to start. An Artful Watering Can I’ve been looking to add a watering can to this guide for more than a year, but none of the ones I’ve tried made the cut. Until now. A good watering can should have a long spout for reaching plants on shelves or on longer tables, and water flow that’s neither too slow nor too fast. It should hold enough water for more than a couple of plants, but not be too heavy to carry around, and also look good enough to sit out on display. This handmade borosilicate glass model hits all these points. It holds 32 ounces of water and comes in five colors (shown is Lilac/Emerald), and the fluted top makes it easy to fill yet hard to spill. Note that it is fragile, however, so it’s probably best in a home without small children or boisterous pets. Automate Your Plant Care This might be one of the most useful houseplant tools I have ever used, outside of a watering can. Planta is an app that serves as a central clearinghouse for your houseplants and their care needs. With Planta’s Premium subscription, it will set fertilizing and watering schedules based on more than 30 parameters, including local weather data, and will even turn your phone into a light meter to help you find the best spot for that particular species. I’ve been using Planta Premium for almost a year (as anyone who’s been around me knows, as they’ve probably heard me talk about it), and these care schedules have resulted in tons of new growth on my existing plants. The app also has a “Dr. Planta” diagnosis feature, where you can submit photos of plant problems to see what might be wrong and how you can fix it. Premium’s most recent update included a new Quick Add tool, which will immediately assess any new plant additions to your household, the size and type of pot they’re in, and the nearby light conditions, helping to dial in an even more customizable care schedule. (It’s not perfectly accurate, but surprisingly close.) Cute Houseplant Care Happy Happy Houseplant makes plant-parent chores fun again with these cheery starter kits featuring everything from fungus gnat insecticide to soil revitalizers and plant food. (Or you can buy them all for $205—a savings of $50 over buying them individually.) Once opened, each box folds out into a cootie-catcher-esque shape with printed information, a colorful bottle of solution, a glass dropper bottle, and a set of stickers. (Ostensibly to stick to the glass dropper bottle, but they don’t stick super well.) I love these boxes and have tried them all at this point—they all work as promised, but my personal MVPs are the Fungus Gnat Death Drops ($45) and the mycorrhizal fungi Root Boost ($33), which helps grow symbiotic fungi in your houseplants and comes in an ice cream-style tub instead of the box. For Keeping Houseplant Leaves Clean and Healthy Houseplants have a tendency to gather dust, especially on high shelves or in particularly dusty areas like near a litter box. This is bad news for plant health any time, but especially so during the winter months, when leaves need as much light as they can get. If your giftee has plants with lots of long, thin leaves, like a corn plant or ponytail palm, the Goha Leaf Sweep is an invaluable tool—it features little microfiber “socks” that fit over lockable plastic tongs, so you can clean both sides of the leaves at the same time. I also like to lock it in place and use one side at a time for plants with larger leaves, like monstera or philodendron. The “sock” covers really do act like a magnet for dust, can be rotated in order to use every bit of clean surface, and are fully machine-washable. Houseplant Candy Trendy monstera deliciosa houseplants are everywhere these days, but did you know they actually produce a fruit? It looks a bit like a cross between corn on the cob and a pineapple and actually tastes a lot like the latter. I’ve never tried it, as apparently they can take up to a year to ripen and rarely produce outside of their native tropical climates (I did find one available to ship, but it costs $65), but Happy Happy Houseplant makes a saltwater taffy from it, which might be the next best thing. It’s quite tart, but it makes a super-fun gift for plant lovers or lovers of unique candies. Grow Your Own Indoor Salad This little six-pod hydroponic garden from my guide to the Best Indoor Gardening Systems offers decent yields with minimal fuss—all functions can be controlled by pushing or holding a single embossed AeroGarden logo on the top. (Once for on or off, five seconds for changing the time of day the light comes on, etc.) If you know someone who’s hydroponic-curious but intimidated by apps, pH testing, and the thought of daunting maintenance, this system is regularly on sale for under $100 and comes in five colors, including red, black, white, green, and “mocha.” However, note that it does NOT come with its own seeds or sponges, so you’ll want to throw in some grow sponges so your giftee can plant their own seeds. Some online reviews note longevity concerns, but mine has been in continuous use for nearly a year with no issues yet. Grow Your Own Mushrooms You have probably seen other brands’ versions of this kit, but those are usually stored dehydrated and are only good for one fruiting, if you’re lucky. North Spore’s are shipped fresh, with an enclosed little squirt bottle for keeping moist (sorry), so they’ll be good for multiple fruitings. My pink oyster mushroom block had three of them before it dried out. Oyster mushrooms are typically the most beginner-friendly, and North Spore offers two different kinds—pink and blue, as well as trendy lion’s mane if your recipient is a more experienced mycologist. Suppose your giftee loves growing mushrooms but has graduated to more challenging varieties. In that case, North Spore makes an automated monotub ($150) that can be paired with either substrate or the brand’s fruiting blocks. It keeps the growing environment with the proper airflow and humidity, and I’ve grown so many mushrooms in mine that I’ve turned into a Crazy Mushroom Lady, leaving bags on neighbors’ porches and chasing down acquaintances in the grocery store. A Decorative Indoor Trellis and Plant Saucers If your friend or loved one is supporting their vines or floppy potted plants with bendable moss poles or, worse, a jerry-rigged ladder made out of duct taped pencils (it was an emergency, OK?), treat them to one of these hand-finished, laser-cut plant supports. There are staked and modular versions (my favorite is the wonderful-smelling, extendable redwood Zella) as well as coasters, wall mounts, and saucers that water your plants from the bottom. I have tested many of them—including the classic versions—and all have added a dash of style while lending critical structure to floppy and vining plants. (Though note the extendable ones can’t support heavy stems, just light vines.) Can’t pick just one? Check out Treleaf’s collection of gift bundles. A Garden Tool That Does It All A Japanese hori hori knife is a classic gardening gift—it’s got a measurement-marked, 7.5-inch concave blade that serves as a trowel, with one serrated edge and one knife edge. If I’m just doing light work and weeding, it’s often the only tool I’ll take into the yard, as it can serve just about any purpose—digging, excavating, cutting, sawing. This hori hori is designed in my local Portland, Oregon, and is truly gift-quality with a pakkawood handle and leather sheath. (It also comes with a keychain knife sharpener.) Succulents in the Mail Lula’s Garden’s heart-shaped box is featured in our guide to the Best Flower Delivery Services, and since then, I have had multiple people recommend the brand to me. I have now tried it, and I have to agree—this is an excellent gift. It’s fun, stylish, and priced the same as or even less than transient flowers. Not everyone is inclined to take care of a houseplant, but succulents are super easy to care for, and the box they arrive in doubles as a planter. (Temporarily—it will grow mold over time, as I discovered.) All you have to do is unbox and use the included pipette to add a few squirts of water. The gardens are contemporary yet neutral enough to fit in with just about any decor. Just a heads up that unboxing the gardens that come with rocks (like the Bliss) may be a little messy, but the more premium gardens (like the Urban) don’t have any loose parts and come out of the box looking exactly as they do online. For Making Compost Indoors As seen in our guide to the Best Kitchen Composters, the Reencle Prime doesn’t fully make ready-to-use compost, but it comes the closest out of any of the major brands. It functions a lot like a heated trash can—just throw your kitchen scraps in, and microbes will break them down over time into a sort of loamy mixture. When the volume of the Prime reaches the fill line, the mixture can be scooped out and added at a 1:4 ratio with potting soil, then left to cure for three weeks. After this, it can be used for both outdoor and indoor plants. Not only will it free up space in your giftee’s trash can and cut down on dangerous greenhouse gas production, it will make their plants happy. A Chic Self-Watering Planter This self-watering planter is made out of Beauta’s nearly indestructible stone-look PolyRock. I wasn’t sure how it would look in person, but it’s actually quite modern and stylish. It’s shallow, so likely best for succulents or smaller, more decorative plants, but it holds an impressive amount of water and kept the beet greens I planted in it perfectly watered for nearly a month. A Do-It-All Cart Don’t torture yourself with an inefficient wheelbarrow! A garden cart might seem like an odd gift at first, but this is the all-category MVP of my yard and household. It not only carries mulch, plants, and yard tools, but it can also tote up to 600 pounds for the small version and 1,200 pounds for the large, which has allowed me to transport everything from giant pizza ovens to bags of smoker pellets. The cart’s got a quick-release dump latch on the front and pneumatic tires that handle mud and sand with no problem. I’ve tested other carts in the past, but this is the only one that has earned a permanent spot in my garage. If your giftee lives on a large plot of land or needs to transport a lot of pots or other supplies around their house, this will be an invaluable companion. Note that it will require some assembly, but it didn’t take more than an hour. A Self-Watering Raised Bed If you only remember Sharper Image from its mall stores in the ’90s and the clearance section at Ross and Marshalls, you may want to take another look—this is the second item from Sharperimage.com that I’ve tried recently and been impressed with. (The first, in case you were wondering, was a nifty rolling toolbox stool.) This cedar raised garden bed is a quick, tool-free assembly and does an impressive job of holding water—the little green flower pops up above the fill tube when it’s empty, and sits down when it’s full, so it’s easy to see at a glance whether the bed needs to be refilled. (Which is not often!) Because it’s 30 inches tall, it’s super easy to plant and harvest without bending over, and you won’t have to worry too much about weeds. That said, I’ve found it’s the perfect buffet height for deer, so you may need to add repellent or cover it with caging. For Flawless Vacation Watering Florev is not the only soil waterer on the market made from potassium polyacrylate (a superabsorbent polymer, sometimes referred to as an “agricultural hydrogel”), but it is the first I’ve seen that features 5-gram sachets that are easy to transport and/or gift. (One 4.4-ounce pack comes with 25 sticks.) This stuff really works, too—I added it to a potted pothos and the beads absorbed water to become a sort of gel, keeping the soil moisturized for the promised three weeks. It will hydrate and rehydrate over time as you water your plant, and will help cut down on overwatering by absorbing excess water. It makes a great gift for a plant lover who’s going on a long trip or struggling with under- or overwatering. A Candle That Smells Like Tomatoes You might be thinking: Why on earth would someone want a candle that smells like a tomato? I certainly did, when WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe crowned a tomato-scented candle as the overall best pick in her Guide to the Best Scented Candles. However, now that I’ve smelled it myself, along with a handful of other versions (LAFCO’s is my second favorite), I completely get it. I was immediately transported back to being amid sun-warmed tomato leaves in my grandfather’s garden, but my teen son, who doesn’t have the same association, also immediately recognized it as a distinctly summer smell. It’s warm and vegetal, but still sweet and fresh. It’s sure to remind your favorite gardener of the good times ahead. A Quality Pair of Gloves I’ve used a lot of gardening gloves over the years, but these two are my all-time favorites. Digz’s long-cuff garden gloves keep dirt, leaves, and other detritus out when you’re reaching down deep into something, and they’re invaluable for pulling out blackberry vines, goosegrass, and other long and/or sticky weeds. (Digz also makes some excellent tools with soft, ergonomic handles, but those aren’t as widely available.) If you’re looking for something sturdier, longer-lasting, and more versatile, Vermont Glove has been hand-sewing goat-leather gloves since 1920, and the Flatlander design dates from that time. These gloves are both ridiculously soft and insanely sturdy—my husband and I both used them all spring and summer for yard work, including pulling thorny weeds, and they have stood up beautifully despite their lightweight feel. Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today. [Image text:] cappy happy houseplant Fungus Gnat Death Drops ISNATORESTARTEE KET JUST BECAUSE