Buddhism talks about living beings having a consciousness, having a brain, a mind that can actually think and according to Buddhism plants don't have that.
Now scientists have done all sorts of experiments with plants, played music for plants, stroked them, etc. and believe me, as gardeners for many years, we did the same things for our plants, we stroked our plants, we talked to them, whatever. And surprisingly or unsurprisingly, plants will often respond.
Buddhism says it's not because the plants have a consciousness or mind of their own, but actually there are invisible living beings that live around every plant. The word Deva is often used in Buddhism. It's a different realm of existence. We have a human realm, we have animal realm, we have invisible living being realms according to Buddhism and on this planet around plants are invisible living beings who live there.
Whenever you are in Thailand or any other Asian Buddhist countries you may often see a tree that may have a sort of dress or skirt on it, a towel, sarong, golden sashes,whatever. This is in honour of the deities, the Devas, invisible living beings that live around the plant. And in Buddhist theory, if you make invisible living beings happy, then they contribute in making the environment a better place. Take it for what you want, but that's according to Buddhism.