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Give Mom The Gift Of Hardiness For Mother’s Day

May 2, 2005 -- How many times have you purchased a showy flowering plant as a Mother’s Day gift with the very best intentions, only to discover that it ended up in the compost bin the following spring because it didn’t survive the winter? With a little knowledge, you can give Mom a gift for Mother’s Day that will keep on giving for many years to come.

Every year, North American consumers spend over $11 billion on gifts for Mother’s Day according to the National Retail Federation, ranging from flowers and cards to candy. At least half of this is spent on plants alone, most of which are unfortunately not adequately hardy for the climatic conditions of their new homes. That’s because most retailers who sell plants as Mother’s Day gifts are more concerned with their “storefront appeal” than whether or not they will survive a harsh northern winter.

“People are too easily lured by showy flowers and glitzy wrap when they shop for Mother’s Day plants, and don’t give a second thought as to whether the plants are suitable for their growing conditions” says Stefan Fediuk, Chief Editorial Director and one of the cofounders of Northscaping, a new resource, entertainment and community website for northern landscapers and gardeners. “More often than not, they have purchased a tender rose or azalea that will turn to a crispy brown when it is ravaged by a northern winter it was never intended to survive.”

Instead, Fediuk urges discriminating shoppers to consider giving Mom flowering shrubs or trees which are hardy for her particular climate. He notes that over the past few decades, plant growers have developed numerous selections of highly ornamental plants which are perfectly hardy for northern climates and which also make great Mother’s Day gifts. As a result, northern nurseries and garden centers are offering a wider variety of flowering plants for Mother’s Day that include both hardy and tender selections.

So, for example, instead of the popular but tender bigleaf hydrangea, one can give a hardier variety of hydrangea such as “Annabelle” or “Pink Diamond” which will survive a northern winter. Instead of a tender miniature rose, one might choose a much hardier shrub rose such as the ivory and pink “Morden Blush” from the Parkland series or the delightful red “Champlain” from the Explorer series. Likewise, buyers seeking a hardy azalea might choose one from the University of Minnesota’s “Northern Lights” series.

However, this wide selection makes it even more imperative for gift shoppers to do their homework before buying. A Landscape Architect by trade, Fediuk suggests that the best way to ensure you are selecting hardy plants for Mom is to know your hardiness zone, which is essentially a rating that categorizes which plants will survive a typical winter in a given area, and then to select plants that are hardy in that particular zone.

He recommends that prospective shoppers consult the resources on the Northscaping website (www.northscaping.com) to assist with their selections. They can use the Interactive Climatic Map tool to identify their particular hardiness zone if they don’t already know it. They can then employ the Landscape Plant Search tool to select showy Mother’s Day shrubs and trees suitable for their zone by entering search criteria for attributes such as flower color and blooming period along with the hardiness zone. “It’s actually quite easy to use, and those few moments you spend will make all the difference between a gift that lasts for maybe a month or two and a gift that will bring joy to her heart for years to come and actually adds value to the landscape” notes Fediuk.

So this year, why not give Mom a gift that she can plant in her garden which will keep on giving for many years to come?

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Northscaping (www.northscaping.com) is a resource, entertainment and community website for landscapers and gardeners in northern North America (hardiness zones 1-5). It features a powerful set of gardening and landscaping tools, an informative and entertaining on-line magazine with weekly articles, community discussion forums, local garden club events listings and links to other on-line resources of value to northern landscapers and gardeners.

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