May 6, 2009

Flowers a staple of Mother’s Day giftingBy Genelle PugmireHeraldExtra.com

Orem — This Sunday is Mother’s Day. And no group of businesses knows that better than local garden shops, nurseries and big-box stores that have a large variety of flora on sale to brighten Mom’s day. In fact, this is the biggest week of the season for sales in the garden departments.

“People always think about flowers when they think of mothers,” said Danielle Holdaway Taylor, a second-generation gardener and employee at the Vineyard Garden Center, 435 S. Geneva Road. “This is the craziest week of the season. But I think it’s a lot of fun.”

Can’t afford a dozen roses this year? Taylor has some ideas on how to make flowers and plants work for shoppers this Mother’s Day without having to spend big bucks on traditional bouquets. If there is one flower or plant that is purchased the most, it’s the geranium. It is the most popular growing flower for gift giving, she said.

“A growing rose bush is always wonderful too,” Taylor said. “Lilacs are popular too because they remind people of their grandmas.”

If you are more of a practical gift giver, Taylor said there are a wide variety of fruit trees and vegetable plants available.

“One LDS ward in the area decided to gift tomato plants this year,” Taylor said.

Then of course there is always the favorite wave petunia that grows abundantly through the summer and is easy to maintain. Taylor said the cool spring has pushed everything back a few weeks in the growth process. She also noted that there seem to be more people growing gardens for food this year than in years past. But if you’re not sure what to do, take a look at what others have done. Men shopping for their moms or wives may want to seek recommendations from a local nursery or garden shop expert.

Megan Ranstrom, a conservation horticulturist with Central Utah Gardens in Orem, notes that Mother’s Day is typically the date when folks don’t have to worry much more about frost.

“People that want to play it safe go a week after Mother’s Day, around May 16,” Ranstrom said.

Located at 355 W. University Parkway, the gardens are specifically geared to teach about water-efficient landscaping. The various areas in the garden introduce visitors to planning and designing gardens, efficient irrigation, soils and use of mulches, plant selection and maintenance.

“We are a demonstration on how to achieve water conservancy and how to discover water-wise plants,” Ranstrom said. If you’re not really quite sure what you want to do in your own yard, a walk around the gardens is a free, fun date to see what is there.

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