Cryptic crossword clue
Holding flower back, shy son presents plants 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SEEDLINGS

I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
S
E
E
D
L
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G
S

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "plants" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case plants = seedlings.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does SEEDLINGS mean?

SEEDLINGS noun
  1. A young plant grown from seed.
  2. Any young plant, especially:

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