What it means to dream about plants (and what science says)

The short answer

Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.

Dreaming about plants is not a promise of prosperity, nor a warning of death when they appear dry. Plants tend to enter the dreams of people who look after pots, a vegetable garden or a yard, and also at moments when the person feels something growing in their own life: a project, a relationship, a change of habit. Wilted plants tend to come with tiredness or guilt over a chore that was left for later.

Read also: Dreaming about flowers and Dreaming about crops or a vegetable garden.

What dream studies show

Research on the continuity between waking life and dreaming shows that the day's activities and worries tend to come back at night. Someone who waters pots every morning, follows the seedling that just sprouted or worries about the plant that keeps losing leaves has a good chance of dreaming about it. The same goes for someone who spent the day on a farm, at a plant fair or working in the yard.

The dream, however, rarely copies the day as it was. It mixes places and times: grandma's vegetable garden appears inside the current apartment, an ordinary plant grows to the size of a tree, pots multiply through the house. These combinations say more about the emotion tied to the plants, like affection, pride or guilt, than about the plants themselves.

Source: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003.

Freud, Jung and faith on this dream

In Freud's psychoanalysis. Freud dreamed that he had written a monograph on a certain plant, with a dried specimen bound into the book, as in a herbarium. That morning he had seen in a shop window the title The Genus Cyclamen; cyclamens were his wife's favorite flowers, and he reproached himself for rarely bringing her flowers. The word "botanical" became a nodal point: from it ran memories of patients, of a university exam and of the study he had done on the coca plant.

In Jung's psychology. Man and His Symbols shows the First Man tied to the plant world: the Chinese P'an Ku appears covered in leaves, and in ancient Persia the first human couple was born in the form of two rhubarb plants. In a sequence of images in the book, a plant sprouts from a transparent sphere: the sphere indicates unity, and the plant, life and growth.

In symbols and faith. According to A Dictionary of Symbols, the plant symbolizes perpetual birth and the flow of vital energy; in the Vedic tradition, plants were invoked as gifts from heaven. In the Bible, Matthew 6:28-29 speaks of the lilies of the field, and Matthew 13 brings the parable of the sower. In Afro-Brazilian religions such as Umbanda and Candomblé, leaves and herbs belong to the orixá Ossaim.

Bringing both readings together. Science shows where the plant comes from; tradition asks what, in you, is asking for water.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols.

Scenes that show up most in this dream

If the dream had a large tree at the center of the scene, it is worth reading dreaming about trees too.

See also: Dreaming about a tornado or hurricane and Dreaming about stones.

If the dream keeps coming back: when to seek help

Dreaming about plants is almost never a cause for concern. If, however, dreams of things dying or rotting keep repeating and leave a weight that lasts all day, or if your sleep has been poor because of nightmares of any kind, it is worth talking to a health professional. See how to have fewer nightmares.

Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.

What dream dictionaries record

Many popular dream books treat plants by their appearance: green ones would be good news, dry ones would be loss. Freud called this way of reading "decoding": each image swapped for a fixed meaning, as in a table. His example came from one of those books, in which "letter" became "trouble" and "funeral" became "engagement".

For Freud, the meaning of a plant in a dream depends on the story of the person who dreamed. That is what his own dream about a botanical monograph shows, told above.

Source: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900.

Folk beliefs about this dream

In folk reading, green, beautiful plants are usually read as a phase of prosperity and health; dry or wilted plants, as discouragement or something that needs attention; plants inside the house, as harmony at home; and seedlings, as the start of a project. In evangelical readings, the dream is sometimes tied to the image of someone planted by God who bears fruit. These are cultural interpretations, for reflection, not predictions. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.