Flowers and plants are an integral part of pop culture. From Snoopy’s daffodils to the beautiful greenery and daisies in Disney movies and greeting cards, flowers and plants have a special power. This is because they represent something deeper than just beauty or decoration—they’re metaphors for all kinds of things: death, life, hope, love, and so forth. In this post, we’ll take you on an epic tour through our favorite flowers and plant appearances in movies and TV shows.
Roses from the Rosemary’s Baby
Rosemary’s Baby is a 1967 American horror film based on the novel by Ira Levin. It was directed by Roman Polanski and stars Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes. The film tells the story of a young couple struggling with their lives in New York City, who become involved in Satanism after they move into an apartment.
The movie has become one of Hollywood’s most iconic films and features different flowers—sometimes even multiple types during each scene. Some fanatics of this movie go the extra mile to find red roses online and try to reenact a scene where Guy apologizes to Rosemary and gives her roses before requesting her to conceive his baby.
The Great Deku Tree
Gaming is one of the most outstanding categories of pop culture, and including trees and nature in a PC or mobile game can be the difference between a bad game and a great one. Many people recall the Legend of Zelda game thanks to the famous Deku tree. The tree has a unique mustache and is probably the most popular tree in gaming.
The Tree of Souls from Avatar
You may have noticed that the Tree of Souls from the film Avatar is a huge tree that’s the source of all life on Pandora. It’s also an important plot point in the movie, as it symbolizes several aspects of human nature—or rather, our human identities:
- The tree represents our connection to nature and nature’s role in our lives.
- We can find meaning in our lives through this connection with nature, which gives us purpose and meaning (in other words, intrinsic value).
- By looking at this tree and praying for help from goddess Eywa, Jake can see past his limitations as well as into other worlds beyond ours.
The Oak Tree from the Shawshank Redemption
As you already know, Oak trees are larger-than-life trees believed to have special abilities. This could be the reason why the producers of the Shawshank Redemption saw it fit to feature this tree in the film. The Oak Tree offers immense value to the movie — it symbolizes hope and new beginnings. Sadly, the tree would later be felled in 2016 after it was damaged by strong winds and ants. All in all, Shawshank Redemption’s fans are comforted by the fact that the Oak tree was the most powerful image in the greatest film ever; and it lived for about two centuries!
The Poppies from the Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz has a lot of great scenes involving flowers and plants. There’s the yellow brick road, which features lots of poppies growing along it. There are also poppy fields in Kansas and Munchkin land, where pretty flowers grow everywhere.
There’s even lots of beautiful greenery in the Wicked Witch’s garden, where Dorothy sees her reflection as she walks through it toward Glinda’s castle. And then there’s the Scarecrow and Tin Man. These two characters aren’t just famous for their friendship; they’re also known for having some of the most beautiful gardens on earth.
Besides the gardens, the Wizard of the Oz also features barking apple trees — and they have limbs to support their barking! One of the trees springs to life when Dorothy stretches her hand to pluck an apple. While their screen time was short, these trees became celebrity plant figures in pop culture.
Terrariums Plants in Stranger Things
A terrarium is a glass container that contains living plants and other decorations. The plant materials used in terrariums have been popular since the Victorian era and became very popular again in the 1990s. Stranger Things is among the films that adopted terrariums – they feature real plants. Besides terrarium plants, the show features unusual plant-themed monsters like the venus trap-looking Demogorgon. This hungry plant also looks like a lily if you look at it from a different angle.
Grandmother Willow from the Pocahontas
It’s not easy to find a sentient female tree, and this could be the reason why the Grandmother Willow is popular. The tree is not only a weeping one but is also a forest spirit that guides the heroine throughout the film. Her leaves mark seasons and are therefore symbolic of change; you’ll love her energy.
Columbia’s Flower Festival
Flowers are an essential part of culture, which is why you’ll see a lot of them at festivals around the world. The Columbia Flower Festival is a perfect example of a flower-themed cultural celebration. For over half a century, Columbians have been parading different flowers in Medellin city every August. The fest provides tourists and locals a perfect opportunity to sample the region’s blooms and celebrate flower farmers.
The Banyan-Grove Tree
If you have watched the animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, you must have seen an insanely ancient tree known as the Banyan-Grove. A water-bending man claims to have found enlightenment under this tree, a statement that leaves Aang and his pals shocked.
The Banyan Grove boasts a strong root structure that spreads miles in all directions and connects all the surroundings. This tree stars in an entire episode because it metaphorically speaks about how all elements of nature are interconnected. The tree was also filled with spiritual energy and taught important lessons to Aang and Kora.
Conclusion
We hope that this list has given you a better understanding of how much pop culture references flowers and plants. There are so many more examples out there, but these ten are just some of the best ones.