When a gardener goes to the movies, she likes to watch…
Greenfingers
It’s about bad guys who turn into good gardeners.
Saving Grace
This one includes that classic line… “It’s a plant, I’m a gardener”, or something like that.
The Secret Garden
It’s one of the classics, good for kids, too.
Dennis the Menace
It has that memorable scene where Mr. Wilson’s garden club comes over to see his rare flower bloom. Did I mention my night blooming cereus is going to bloom any night now?
84 Charing Cross Road
Hey, what does this movie have to do with gardening?
Nothing. It’s about a book lover in New York City and an antique book seller in London, England who become friends through business correspondence and then letters exchanged over several decades. But they never meet in person. It’s based on a true story.
Doesn’t that remind you of garden blogging, in a way?
Saving Grace is one of my absolute FAVORITE movies, I love Craig Ferguson in that movie! And Clive Owen is so cute in Greenfingers! They’re both great stories and I love that they’re so garden-centric, in their ways.
The others, I’m not familiar with but will have to check out. But one movie I was always disappointed in was You Only Live Twice – the Ian Fleming book is about the Bond bad guys going to Japan and growing a garden of death where all the Japanese people go to commit suicide and Bond has to stop them. There are plant lists and everything. And the movie has none of that. The book is great though!
What about The Constant Gardener?
A sad but great movie.
Cute post.
I enjoyed Greenfingers because it has Clive Owens in it and part of it was shot in a charming Cotswolds village I’d visited.
If we are allowed very tenuous connections to gardening, then I’d add Mrs. Miniver. There is a subplot about the local rose competition and the wonderful line, “What goes to make a rose, ma’am, is breeding… and budding… and horse-manure, if you’ll pardon the expression. And that’s where you come in, ma’am”
Hi Carol – fun choices – and I’ve seen every movie on that list – thanks to your previous mention of 84 Charing Cross Road.
The formal Mediterranean gardens that surround the characters in Much Ado About Nothing are also a treat for gardeners’ eyes.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Great selections Carol! I love “The Secret Garden”. What a sweet story and a gorgeous garden to boot! 🙂
Anne (in Reno), I guess I won’t rush to see that Bond movie!
Chigiy, I will check that out. I don’t know why I haven’t seen it already.
MSS@Zanthan Gardens, I’m going to add that to my list to watch this winter.
Annie in Austin, We could do a whole post about movies that are a treat for gardener’s eyes. Under the Tuscan Sun which I watched on my Ipod Touch on the way to Austin, had some great scenery, too.
Perennial Gardener, Seems like it is time for a movie marathon viewing session, featuring all these ‘garden’ movies?
What other movies are there?
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Geez! You’d better run that movie marathon soon, I’ve only seen two of them, The Secret Garden and Dennis the Mennace. Of course I’ve been a bit busy lately for much movie watching though. Maybe it’s something I can add to my winter to-do list!
I saw just about all the movies & they are good.
As for your night blooming serous I have one that I've had for about 15 yrs. It blooms quite a bit. I had a piece break off so I potted it up for my granddaughter & it has already bloomed. I like to watch it bloom. I just got another that has a different color bloom {I hope}. Will have to wait & see.
Carol, I’m going to give this another try. A favorite of mine is Cold Comfort Farm. I think you’ll like it. Very tongue in cheek. Very British.~~Dee
I wondered if “Under the Tuscan Sun” counted. That’s more about scenery than gardening. Closer to the mark would be “Jean de Florette”–ah, the problems of gardening without water. Gardening is not all rosy optimism–even in the movies.
Cinj, movies are more of a winter activity for me, too.
Lola, sounds like you have good luck with the cereus, any secrets to share?
Dee, I’ll add it to my list, thank you!
MSS @ ZanthanGardens, That movie sounds like something that would have English subtitles? I’ll add it to the list. I think there are two catagories of movies… those about gardening, in some way, and those that just feature great garden as part of the backdrop.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Hello Carol,
I love the first two movies. I saw the first one just once long time ago and I didn’t know what was the name – so thank you for reminding. Saving Grace – wonderful sense of humour.
And Secret Garden – to see this one on your list made me feel ashamed. It is by Polish director, and I have to admit I have not seen it 🙁 Okay – I will have to change it asap.
Thank you,
Ewa
I second the suggestion for Jean De Florette and Manon of the Spring for an awesome story with a whole lot of gardening.
I’d add to the list: Phenomenon starring John Travolta. I believe he spent some time in the movie fretting over how a rabbit continued to get into his garden even after he’d built a fence around the garden. OK, it wasn’t a great movie, but it posed an interesting gardening-related problem.
How about Green Card? A romantic comedy: Andie MacDowell wants an apartment with a conservatory, Gerard Depardieu needs a green card to be allowed to work in the US.
Trailer from imdb.com
My master-gardener friend said I have to see "It's Complicated" only for the kitchen garden. He called it the perfect kitchen garden. I fast-forwarded through the movie until I saw it. It's nice.
This Beautiful Fantastic is about a woman who will lose her house if she doesn’t plant a garden. It’s on Amazon Prime: Set against the backdrop of a beautiful London garden, this contemporary fairy tale centers on the unlikely friendship between a reclusive young woman who dreams of writing children’s books and a cranky widower. Facing eviction over her neglected garden, Bella (Jessica Brown Findlay) meets her grumpy, loveless, next-door neighbor (Tom Wilkinson), who happens to be an amazing horticulturalist. There are also documentaries about gardening on Amazon, such as The Gardener.