Flowers and plants are traditional Mother's Day gifts, but what if you want to give your mom a gift that does a little bit more? Consider a plant that offers more than just a pretty look when putting together a hanging basket or container of plants for Mom this weekend.
Pollinator-friendly flowers. Who wouldn't enjoy looking out at their flowers and seeing hummingbirds? To attract these pollinators, try salvia greggii Furman's Red. It has beautiful magenta-red flowers, can bloom from June to October, and can provide food for hummingbirds and other pollinators all summer.
Butterflies will love the small white flowers of Little One Verbena (Verbena bonariensis) as well as the blooms of zinnias, which can add a pop of vibrant color to a container garden. Lantana, in the verbena family, feature a beautiful mix of red, orange, and yellow, and are extremely attractive to pollinators.
Fragrant plants. To make Mom's porch, patio, or yard smell great, look for fragrant flowers like heliotrope or dianthus. Heliotrope features lots of small, beautiful, blue/purple or white flowers that have a sweet scent. Dianthus, often known as "pinks," have a bit of a spicier scent - some say they smell a bit like cinnamon or clove.
Plants that show love. A unique way to show Mom that you love her is to include some plants with heart-shaped leaves or flowers. The petals of the Petunia Amore Queen of Hearts are bi-colored with the pink color coming together to form little hearts. Sweet potato vine has lovely heart-shaped leaves as does Brunnera macrophylla, which is often call Siberian bugloss. Both of these plants do well in containers.
References
Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (2019, May 10). Tip of the Week: Multi-tasking plants for Mother's Day. https://www.alcc.com/tip-of-the-week-email