The Secret Lives of Plants and Fascinating Facts You Might Not Know
Updated: Mar 19, 2025
Written by Joanne Louise Bray, Founder
Joanne Bray is the proud founder of Plantlife Joy. Her journey began with a deep love of nature and the belief that plants have the power to bring happiness, tranquility, and a touch of magic to our lives. Plantlife Joy specialises in plant knowledge, and our mission is to connect people back to the beauty of the natural world.
Plants are essential to life on earth; they help us in countless ways. They provide the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, and the raw materials for clothing, shelter, and medicine. They play a critical role in regulating the climate, maintaining soil health, and supporting diverse ecosystems. Even the tiniest moss or the most unassuming weed contributes to the balance of our planet.
Plants are humble, unassuming, and yet utterly remarkable. They are the silent architects of life on earth; the plant kingdom is full of surprises. They have evolved mind-boggling adaptations to thrive in extreme environments, and we ship them all over the world to take centre space in our gardens or homes. Let’s delve into some intriguing facts about a few of these wonders.
Flowering plants (angiosperms)
There are around 300,000 species of flowering plants; the first flowering plant came into existence around 140 million years ago. The first flower is thought to look like the flower found within the link. What did the mother of all flowers look like? - The University of Sydney Flowers are not just nature's eye candy for us to look at and appreciate; they are a survival strategy for plants as they are the plant's way of reproducing. Most flowers contain reproductive structures that facilitate pollination leading to the production of seeds. These seeds then spread and grow into new plants. The colours, scents, and nectar of flowers are all designed to attract pollinators; plants have developed a clever system to ensure their survival.
Sunflowers
A sunflower, a flower of many faces, looks like one large flower head, but it is composed of hundreds of tiny flower heads called florets, which ripen to become the seeds.
Sunflowers are one of nature’s soil healers as they are known to restore soil health as their deep roots help to break up compacted soil, improving soil organic matter. They are gaining recognition for their use in a process called Phytoremediation, which is using plants to remove toxins form the soil. They were used at Chernobyl to help clean the soil of heavy metals.
Sunflower seeds are also beneficial to our health as they include healthy fats, vitamin E, and minerals like magnesium and selenium.
Sunflowers are huge sun lovers as they move with the direction of the sun throughout the day. This action is known as solar tracking.
There are around 70 different varieties of sunflowers they range from dwarf varieties to those that grow above 12ft tall. If you do decide to grow sunflowers, just know that the slugs and snails absolutely love them, so you might want to grow them near an oregano plant, as slugs and snails are not a fan of this plant.
Snowdrops
Snowdrops possess a unique feature as they have a kind of heat lamp within the petals of the plant that warms up the ground beneath them. That is why if you see snowdrops when the ground is covered in snow, there will be very little snow around the snowdrop.
They are the first plants to signal that spring is on its way. There are around 2,500 different varieties of snowdrops. Snowdrops are associated with purity and hope in folklore.
Another fascinating fact about snowdrops is that they have an alkaloid called Galanthamine, which has been found effective in treating Alzheimers. Galanthamine improves cognitive function; how incredible is that?
Carnivorous plants
Carnivorous plants don’t need any form of fertiliser as they obtain their nutrients from their kill. They are the meat-eaters of the plant world, and the larger versions can attract and kill reptiles or small animals, so I would avoid those. I have seen the movie Little Shop of Horrors, where the plant eats humans. I don’t think they would eat us, but I am still not willing to test that theory.
Carnivorous plants should only be watered using rain or distilled water, as they don’t like tap water.
Carnivorous plants are a wonderful addition to your houseplant collection, and they can, of course, help to reduce the numbers of fungus gnats as varieties like the Sundew love to feast on small prey.
Air plants (tillandisia)
Air plants do not need soil. Instead, they draw nutrients from the air and water using the tiny scales on their leaves (trichomes).
Most air plants are epiphytes; they anchor themselves to trees, rocks, or other structures without causing harm.
Read more from Joanne Louise Bray
Joanne Louise Bray, Founder
Joanne Bray is a leader in plant life; she has been to the darkest depths of despair with her mental health. Nurturing plants and learning all about them led to her own healing journey. She discovered the immense joy, and mindfulness that nuturing plants provides, so she began to write about them within her membership site, create courses, paint parts of nature that she fell in love with, and write books in the hope of sharing her passion, and helping others to connect back to the beauty and wonder that nature supplies. Joanne is very passionate about eradicating the use of chemicals in gardening, and so she offers solutions using plants that either attract beneficial insects or deter pests.
