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?

Although it takes most clematis a few years to become established, they are fairly easy to care for once they mature, providing masses of blooms throughout much of the growing season. Clematis have one shared requirement and that is their need for support. They can be attached to fences, trellises, arbors, gazebos, garden objects or other companion plants such as climbing roses or tall shrubs with similar needs.

Clematis prefer to have their feet in the shade and their heads in the sun for at least 5-6 hours per day. They prefer rich, fast-draining soil amended and their roots protected by a layer of mulch. It's important to water clematis regularly especially in hot weather. Most varieties will continue to produce blooms repeatedly provided they are fed every 4-6 weeks during the growing season and decorative seed heads are removed after each bloom cycle.

We have a great selection of Clematis just waiting to find a new home in your garden. We invite you to visit us and see how spectacular and versatile these wonderful plants really are. It truly is the queen of vines.

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Among the most beautiful of all flowers, calla lilies originally came from South Africa. They are a favorite of florists and those who like to plant a cutting bed, as they make excellent cut flowers. The dwarf varieties look great in containers. The larger varieties can put on quite a show planted as a focal point behind lower-growing flowers, or massed to create a large color grouping.

They prefer full sun to partial shade, with a moist, fertile, well-draining soil. They are a good choice for a damp spot in the yard where plants used to drier conditions are overwatered, but they don't like standing water. Make sure they don't dry out while they are blooming.

After blooming has finished, don't cut the healthy foliage off; it will gather energy and nutrients to store for the next blooming season. Leaves may be removed when they yellow.

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, such as Liquid Fence, 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, such as Shake Away, 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!

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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.