The earliest Mother's Day celebrations we know of were ancient Greek spring celebrations in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods. But those were in honor of one particular mother. England's "Mothering Sunday," begun in the 1600's, is closer to what we think of as "Mother's Day." Celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England.

In 1907 Anna Jarvis started a drive to establish a national Mother's Day. In 1907 she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother's church in West Virginia--one for each mother in the congregation. In 1908, her mother's church held the first Mother's Day service, on May 10th (the second Sunday in May). That same day a special service was held at the Wanamaker Auditorium in Philadelphia, where Anna was from, which could seat no more than a third of the 15,000 people who showed up.

By 1909, churches in 46 states, Canada and Mexico were holding Mother's Day services. In the meantime, Ms. Jarvis had quit her job to campaign full time. She managed to get the World's Sunday School Association to help; they were a big factor in convincing legislators to support the idea. In 1912, West Virginia was the first state to designate an official Mother's Day. By 1914, the campaign had convinced Congress, which passed a joint resolution. President Woodrow Wilson signed the resolution, establishing an official national Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May.

Many countries of the world now have their own Mother's Day at different times of the year, but Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Japan, and Turkey join the US in celebrating Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May. Britain still celebrates Mothering Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent--but they now call it Mother's Day. By any name, and at any date, it's a special day to honor a special person.

Having trouble thinking of a gift? Why not do something a little different for Mother's Day? Instead of giving her a bouquet of roses, plant her a rose garden! If she already has a rose garden--add to it! If she lives in an apartment, consider a potted rose plant--many roses will do quite well in containers (ask us for suggestions).

Why give one bouquet that will soon fade away, when you can give years of pleasure from living roses instead?

If the idea of having a beautiful flowering vine cover your fence with blooms for only a few months of the year leaves you somewhat empty, consider planting two different vines together. Yes, you read that right, two vines planted in the same hole. The key to this simple trick is to pair vines that have two completely different flowering seasons and/or compatible foliage.

Imagine having the bright yellow spring blooms of a cat's claw vine (Macfadyena unguis-cati) followed by the magnificent summer flowers of honeysuckle vine (Lonicera). Or combine the spring blooms of clematis with the summer blooms of a passion flower vine. For a really interesting combination consider pairing a spring blooming wisteria with its long hanging clusters of blooms with a grape vine. Both fruit and flower look very similar!

If you're not sure what combinations might work, here's a few just to whet your appetite: two colors of bougainvillea, lavender trumpet vine (Clytosoma) with royal or scarlet trumpet vine (Distictus), Carolina jessamine (Gelsimium) with white potato vine (Solanum) or happy wanderer (Hardenbergia), bower vine (Pandorea) with bougainvillea, 'Madame Galen' trumpet vine (Campsis) with wisteria--just to name a few.

The possibilities are almost endless. Your only limitation is your creativity! So what are you waiting for? Come in and visit us and one of nursery professionals will be happy to help you create a fence or wall that comes alive with color for more than one season.

When planning a landscape, it's important to look at the whole area at once. Most of us tend to focus on one area and miss others. Perhaps the most overlooked area in landscaping is the area by the curb--or between the sidewalk and the curb. It is the first area visitors (and potential buyers) see, yet often it receives the least thought and attention in the garden. Landscaping this area can also be more challenging because of heavy foot traffic, reflective heat from the street (and the sidewalk, if you have one) unique water needs, and city codes.

Many times homeowners opt to just fill these areas in with lawn, but turf in a curb area does little to add any visual appeal, requires weekly maintenance, and uses a lot of water. With a little planning, grass can be replaced with sturdy ground cover plants and/or drought tolerant shrubs, and then finished off with decorative mulch.

It's important to use mostly low mounding plants so you don't obscure the view of your home. This also allows small children to be better aware of traffic. You might choose dwarf versions of barberry, breath of heaven, cotoneaster, escallonia, germander, holly, Indian hawthorn, juniper, potentilla, spirea and weigela.

To add some texture and interest to the area, consider grassy-textured plants such as dwarf Lily of the Nile, daylilies, fortnight lily, dwarf New Zealand Flax or Mexican feather grass. If more color is desired, add hardy perennials such as cranesbill, gaura, lamb's ears, lavender, meadow sage and yarrow.

Complete the design with hardy, sun-loving groundcover like gazania, ornamental strawberry, trailing lantana, dwarf heavenly bamboo, or creeping thyme. To help get all of your plants established faster and to give the area a finished look, top-dress with a decorative mulch. This will also help keep the ground moist longer between each watering.

Curb areas don't have to be difficult and they certainly don't have to be boring. Give your curb the attention it deserves and make it the first thing people notice about your home.

Are you looking for an attractive flowering vine to cover your fence? Consider the new 'Harlequin' honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum). This deciduous vine is a vigorous climber with handsome variegated foliage that sports cream edges with pink highlights. It bears pink buds that open into fragrant, creamy white blooms that age to golden yellow. The blooms begin in late spring and continue intermittently until fall.  

'Harlequin' can be planted in full sun or part shade condition. The overall effect of this vine in any part of the garden is positively glowing and it has great fall foliage as well! You can prune it as a shrub or train it up against a wall, trellis or arbor. So give that boring fence the kick in the pants it needs. Cover it with the beautiful 'Harlequin' honeysuckle. Hurry in and get yours today! 

Squirrels are a very common nuisance animal and, as cute as they appear, can cause a number of different conflicts with homeowners. Grey squirrels and tree squirrels will steal fruit from fruit trees and food from bird feeders, while ground squirrels will eat all of your flowers, damage vegetables and dig up lawns looking for food. Worse yet, squirrels have a unique desire to live inside of buildings where they can create fire hazards from chewing up wiring and bringing in nesting items.

There are two ways to deal with squirrels. You can either repel them from your yard by making your garden undesirable as a food source, or by trapping and removing them. NOTE: you cannot use poison to control squirrels. There is no registered effective legal (or humane) poison that will eliminate squirrels.

The first method involves spraying a non-toxic, bad tasting repellent on your non-edible plants. The squirrels will associate your plants with a foul taste and eventually leave. For vegetables and fruits, you can use a predator repellent to scare away the squirrels. These usually contain coyote, fox or mountain lion urine.

The second method is to trap the squirrels with a humane trap. These traps have spring-loaded doors with sensitive triggers to make safe, secure and sensitive catches. The easiest way to trap squirrels is to place unshelled peanuts, sunflower seeds or pieces of fruit inside the trap.

One or more of these traps should be set and placed in areas frequented by the squirrels you wish to catch, or along paths they commonly use. If you opt for live release, captured squirrels should be released far away, some say as far away as seven miles, in order to ensure they do not return. For the sake of your fellow gardeners, please try to release them in the wild, not next to someone else's home.

Remember that there's no point trapping squirrels in any place where there is a consistent food source such as bird feeders or vegetable gardens because replacements will soon arrive attracted by the source of food. Squirrels re-produce rapidly so don't delay; embark on a squirrel control strategy today!

Should I fertilize shrubs before or after rain?

Answer:
That depends on whether the ground is wet before it rains. Fertilizer should never be applied to dry ground or dry plants. Chemical fertilizers can burn plants when the ground is dry, because the salts that are a by-product of the fertilizer will reach the plant cells before the water can replenish them.

Most organic plant foods need moist soil to break down and allow the beneficial microbes in them to proliferate. If the ground is already moist and you know a measurable amount of rain (at least 1/2") is coming, then apply your fertilizer before. If the ground is dry, allow the rain to replenish the soil with moisture and then apply your fertilizer. After you fertilize, make sure to water the fertilizer in so it percolates into the soil.

Spireas are some of the easiest flowering shrubs to grow in the garden. Once established, they require very little care and reward gardeners with an abundance of showy blooms from early spring through the end of summer. You know that spring has truly arrived once spireas put on their dazzling display of blooms.

There are two distinct kinds of spireas: the bridal wreath type, with clusters of white flowers on arching branches in spring, and the shrubby, mounding, much lower-growing type, which has pink, red or white flowers clustered at the end of upright branches from late spring to fall.

These deciduous plants thrive in full sun locations and also perform well in part shade. The only maintenance needed is a light pruning after their initial bloom cycle is completed, and in early spring before they leaf out to remove any of the previous year's old flowers.

Stop by and see these beautiful shrubs in all of their dazzling color. They're waiting for you to take them home today!