Mother’s Day Flowering Plants

Tiny Quick Fire Hydrangea paniculata

If your wife or moth­er prefers her Mother’s Day flowers with roots, several selections for her garden are below.

Juiced Orange™ Jes­samine, Cestrum corym­bosum, has citrus-hued tubular flowers blooming from spring to frost. It attracts bees, humming­birds, and butterflies. The tropical evergreen shrub with glossy foliage is per­fect for a pollinator garden, a specimen plant or as a group in a border in USDA Zones 7-9. Easy to grow in sunny to partly sunny loca­tion, Juiced Orange is heat and drought tolerant and deer resistant.

Pillow Talk® Garde­nia, Gardenia jasminoides, is a low-mounded broadleaf evergreen shrub with pro­lific and spicy fragrant pure white blooms in spring. The small shrub tucks into sunny borders, beds, and containers or it can be used solo as a specimen. The flowers can be cut for vases.

Hydrangeas are a popular summer plant due to their large, showy flow­ers. Panicle hydrangeas are the easiest hydrangeas for the novice gardener or the small space garden. Tiny Quick Fire® Hydrangea paniculata is the smallest most prolific blooming hydrangea in the market. With a height of 1.5-3 feet and width of 2-3 feet, the early blooming petite plant makes the perfect accent plant, low flowering hedge, ground cover, and contain­er plant. The flowers can even be cut and displayed. As the fluffy, creamy flower spikes age, they turn deep pink with red highlights on bold, red stems.

 

What mother doesn’t appreciate roses? ‘Fla­vorette™ Honey-Apricot rose was bred for the fra­grance and fruity taste of its petals. The mature 3-4 foot tall and wide rose prefers full sun in moist, well-drained soil. Site Honey-Apricot rose in culinary and herb gar­dens, containers, borders, edible flowering hedges, or as a stand-alone stun­ner. The adaptable rose is disease resistant and reblooming.

Mothers seeking low-maintenance, sun-loving tough plants with long-term seasonal appeal choose sedums. Perennial Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ endures and thrives in challenging garden condi­tions. It tolerates clay and poor, dry soils. It blooms throughout summer heat, and the succulent leaves store water for sustenance during drought. Few pests or diseases are known to threaten, and it resists the advances of deer and rab­bits. Sedum’s rugged con­stitution can lead to its revival if tossed upon the compost pile.

‘Flavorette’ Honey-Apricot rose

Star sedum, Sedum sarmentosum, is a matt forming perennial ground­cover with creeping bright yellow-green leaves with branches reaching about 10 inches. The branches take root at the nodes, so it is easy to propagate by stem cuttings. They also propa­gate by leaf cutting or seed. Add to rock gardens, cas­cading over garden walls or in border fronts along walk­ways where its bright char­treuse color can play off darker leaved plants in the landscape. In areas of low foot traffic or just the foot traffic of children or pets it can be used as a lawn alter­native in areas such as along a driveway or between the sidewalk and the street. This sedum fits nicely between stepping stone pathways. It also grows well in containers with a cactus or succulent potting soil.

Juiced Orange Jessamine

Giving flowers with roots on Mother’s Day brings enjoyment far into the future.