Larry Smith and the Riverside Gardens team talk all things pots, plants and pruning in their weekly gardening column.
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Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums throughout the Goulburn Valley for this coming Sunday. Have a wonderful day, sit back, relax and enjoy being spoilt.
You deserve it for all the things that mums do every day that go unnoticed and often unappreciated. Enjoy your special day.
The lead-up to Mother’s Day in the Garden Centre is a busy time for us, both in the nursery area and the gift shop, as people look for that special something to show their appreciation to their mums.
In years gone by, it was popular to give flowering chrysanthemum plants as the traditional Mother’s Day gift, but in more recent years the choice of plants has certainly diversified.
Cyclamens are one of the more popular plant choices, with their upside-down facing flowers giving a long-lasting floral display inside.
Placed in a decorative planter on a table or bench, they will flower for weeks with very little care apart from removing spent flowers and old leaves by twisting them off from the base.
We find if you occasionally place them outside in the cold night air you will prolong their flower display even further.
Flowering geraniums have also become a plant of choice, mainly the Calliope geraniums with their large heads of flowers.
Grown in hanging baskets, in pots or in the ground in a good sunny spot, they will flower on and off for most of the year. Big Red, Big Pink, Big Purple, Big Rose and Big White are all looking colourful in the Garden Centre for Mother’s Day.
Camellias make an ideal Mother's Day gift, particularly the Sasanqua and Williamsii varieties, as they will be flowering again in time for Mother’s Day every year in the years to come.
Both of these varieties will handle full sun and require little to no maintenance.
In flower now, we have Shishigashira, Hiryu, Yuletide, With Love, Jennifer Susan and heaps more, including a couple of Beautiful Paradise Blush standards that are looking spectacular.
Although starting to look dormant and slightly winterised, Mother’s Love roses make an appropriate gift for Mother’s Day.
Their soft-shell pink flowers will give you flowers right through the summer months that can be picked and taken inside for a lovely bouquet.
Other plants starting to flower, like gardenia, either bush or standards, Helleborus Ice and Roses, Helleborus Pink Frost, Michelia Little Sarah, or Dianthus Passion, would all make a nice gift for a mum who loves her garden.
Indoor plants are also worth considering.
The hardy Spathiphyllum Peace Lily, either the smaller bench-top types or the larger growing Blue Moon or Sensation varieties, are always an easy choice.
Other easy-to-grow indoor plants, like Pilea aluminium plant, Peperomia Silver Heart, Peperomia Chinese Money plant, begonias or Epipremnum Devil's Ivy are also reliable choices.
Then there are the slightly more unusual ones, like Aglaonema Lady Valentine, with beautiful pink and green variegated foliage.
Anthurium Amoranja, with bright red or orange waxy flowers, or even Monstera Thai Constellation, with large yellow, white and green variegated foliage, would make a perfect gift for the indoor plant enthusiasts.
If you are a bit unsure about giving plants as gifts, there are always beautiful decorative ceramic planters, garden art pieces, or garden décor items such as wind spinners and table lanterns.
Other Mother’s Day gifts that have been popular this year have been the native fragrant range of soaps and hand creams, scented candles and diffusers.
Along with table décor, placemats and glass cutting boards.
With all this in mind, you are sure to find something for Mum for Mother’s Day in the Garden Centre, even a sincere or funny card.
This Mother’s Day, like previous years, we will be offering all mums free games of Laugh A Lot Mini Golf in our Golf Gardens.
This is our way to say thank you to the mums out there for all they do and to let them know it does not go unnoticed.
What we also notice is just how competitive the mums get when it comes to playing mini golf against the family, especially the older kids.
So why not make a day of it and find out who is the champion of the family while you stroll around the gardens, maybe even bring a picnic to enjoy on the lawns by the lake.
Whatever you get up to, we would like to wish a happy Mother’s Day to all the mums of the Goulburn Valley. Enjoy your day.