Frau Holles Garten (2019)

Mia Goldig works as a master gardener at the Botanical Garden in Berlin and loves her job dearly. She knows almost everything about plants, but she also loves and understands them, and is always coming up with new ideas. Her colleagues are very fond of her, too, because she always has time to listen to each of them. However, Mia struggles with her self-confidence and does not like to draw attention to herself, preferring to stay in the background. She also stutters whenever many eyes are on her. When Mia’s mother, Helene, who has so far managed the Botanical Garden, begins looking for a successor, it does not even occur to the reserved Mia to apply for the position. Helene, too, does not think her daughter is capable of running the Botanical Garden or, above all, of finding the financially strong sponsors it urgently needs. Instead, Helene believes her older daughter Marissa, who works as an event manager, is the right person for the job. Marissa is very confident and clever. Frau Holle runs a shop in the Botanical Garden. She is its heart and soul. Frau Holle is convinced that Mia is exactly the right person and that nobody could manage the Botanical Garden better. So she encourages Mia to apply. Then there is Lennart Sommer, a horticultural contractor who supports Mia. The young woman is very fond of him. After Mia learns from her sister that she intends to completely redesign the Botanical Garden, she asks Frau Holle to help her submit an application of her own. Mia’s mother wants her to forget about her application as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Jakob Sommer, the lawyer for the family that will decide who is to manage the garden in the future, learns that Mia has applied, too. He tells Helene Goldig that the position will go to whoever can first secure the urgently needed investor for the garden. Helene Goldig nevertheless continues trying to make Mia withdraw and to influence her daughter to do as she wishes. Marissa immediately sets about trying to win the people at the Botanical Garden over to her side. Mia, meanwhile, follows Frau Holle’s advice to dress differently until she feels like someone else—perhaps that might help her overcome her stutter, since an important event is taking place that evening. To Mia’s surprise, Lennart Sommer turns up there, and she discovers that he is the son of the lawyer, Jakob Sommer. Mia tells Lennart about her plans and says she would like to expand the garden’s medicinal-plant section. But then Marissa appears and monopolizes Lennart Sommer. Mia also has to hear from her mother that she does not want Mia to ruin Marissa’s chances by stuttering. This leaves Mia feeling very insecure again. Marissa immediately begins plotting against Mia. She deliberately tells her own mother lies about her sister, which Helene passes on to Jakob Sommer without checking them. When Mia seeks a meeting with Sommer, he shuts the door in her face. Lennart is angry, but cannot change his father’s mind. During an outing together, Mia confesses to Lennart that she has realized she never stutters when he is nearby. He grounds her. Lennart says he feels the same way, and they share their first kiss. When it comes time to sign the contract with Marissa, the entire staff is there, as is the investor, Pechmeyer. Just as Helene is about to hand her daughter the contract to sign, she hears Pechmeyer say that, of course, more than half the staff will have to be laid off, since the concept they have in mind will require hardly any gardeners. Two-thirds of the grounds would be paved over for bars and shops… He does not get any further, because Marissa interrupts him, saying they can discuss all that later. Helene Goldig can hardly believe what she has just heard. Marissa answers her in a raised voice that this is simply the future. There is no other option. Mia challenges her sister, who then tries to put her on the spot and asks her to explain. Mia pulls herself together, and this time she manages to present her medicinal-plant concept without stuttering. Pechmeyer says that if they go ahead with it, they can no longer count on his money. Helene Goldig now realizes she recommended the wrong daughter as her successor. Addressing Pechmeyer, she says she would rather die than allow Marissa to implement her concept. The staff erupt in cheers. Mia assures them she is sure she can find the money. Right on cue, Frau Holle appears and introduces Frau Hahnenschrei. The previous evening, Mia had quick-wittedly saved her life when everyone else stood by and did nothing. Frau Hahnenschrei assures Mia that she will support the Botanical Garden with an amount that is certain to help. Marissa is so furious that she shakes a scaffold, causing dark soil to fall down and cover her, after white blossoms had showered down on Mia. Mia warmly thanks Frau Holle. Lennart, who had a car breakdown, is there now too, and Mia’s happiness is complete.