By Natalie Carmolli, Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
Photographs courtesy of Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
It’s almost here! Mother’s Day. Aren’t you tired of giving mom chocolates or a vase of flowers that both seem to quickly evaporate, along with your good wishes? This year, give mom a gift that will bring your love to mind for years to come. Whether planted in a container or her garden, flowering shrubs will remind mom of this Mother’s Day every year with their colorful spring buds and sweetly perfumed blooms.
Bloomerang Dwarf Pink lilac.
If a shrub that’s in bloom near Mother’s Day is on your wish list, lilacs are the way to go. Lilacs bring that classic fragrance in spring that everyone loves. Lilac flowers can be enjoyed outside, or cut and placed in a vase to bring the spring indoors. If anything, it seems lilac season goes by too quickly!
Bloomerang Dwarf Purple lilac.
If you want to extend mom’s enjoyment of those sweet lilac blooms, choose a shrub that blooms again in mid-summer. There are two reblooming lilacs that make a perfect mother’s day gift because they’re so cute and compact. Bloomerang® Dwarf Pink and Dwarf Purple lilacs are just 2.5-3’ tall and wide, so mom can tuck them into an existing flower bed, or even grow them in a container! Lilacs like cool weather and these two guys do too, hardy in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3-7.
Wee Bit Giddy hydrangea.
If mom loves hydrangeas, look for two garden-friendly dwarf cultivars that are available at nurseries and garden centers already pre-budded and bursting with color, just in time for her special day!
Wee Bit Grumpy hydrangea.
Wee Bit Giddy® and Wee Bit Grumpy® Hydrangea macrophylla are a petite 2’ tall and 2.5’ wide, making them a perfect container plant. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t ready for the garden! They are hardy in zones 5-9, so mom can pop them in the ground when she’s done enjoying them in the container. The flowers of Wee Bit Giddy® are saturated red-pink and Wee Bit Grumpy® will turn a moody purple when the soil is treated properly. It’s important to note that of the two, only Wee Bit Giddy® hydrangea is remontant. So if you’re looking for a rebloomer, Giddy is your gal.
And of course, when you’re thinking Mother’s Day, you have to think of roses. But nobody wants to give mom a gift that’s just a lot of work. And roses can be touchy!
At Last rose.
But At Last® rose is different. Not only does it have the easy care characteristics of a shrub rose, it’s fragrant, too! At Last® rose produces beautiful, full, apricot-colored flowers with a true rose scent. Its romantic blooms are self-cleaning and appear continuously on the plant without deadheading. Glossy, deep green foliage stays free of black spot and powdery mildew so mom can just sit back and enjoy the beauty and fragrance of her rose all summer long. At Last® rose is hardy in zones 5-9 and will grow to 3-4’ tall and wide.
These five fabulous shrubs are a win for gift-giving, not only this Mother’s Day but well after when they bloom again and again, reminding mom of your never-ending love.
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If you think the flower show is over once summer fades … think again. Fall has its own cast of joyful and colorful characters. For an interesting article, click here .
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