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?

Few plants can equal the stunning blooms of a rhododendron. Like jewels on a royal crown, these queens of the shade garden are regal beauties whose stately forms add excitement to any woodland setting. New varieties are continuously sought after--and today number more than 800 varieties from around the world.

Rhododendrons are fairly hardy evergreen plants that can withstand temperatures from as low as -10 degrees to over 100 degrees in the summer. The plants can range in shape from dwarfs that grow only 18" tall, to mounding forms and upright varieties that take on a tree-like quality.

But what sets them apart from the rest of the plant world is their incredible display of spring blooms. The ornamental flowers appear in large clusters called trusses, with each individual flower containing protruding stamens that produce a somewhat spidery effect.

The flowers come in a myriad of colors including shades of blue, purple, lavender, red, pink, coral, white, and yellow. Some varieties produce flowers in a combination of colors. Most bloom from as early as March to as late as June, depending on climate and location. Some varieties are also fragrant.

Rhododendrons prefer a morning sun location with afternoon shade. They are an acid-loving plant that responds well when an acid soil amendment such as peat moss or Gardner & Bloome Acid Planting Mix is incorporated into the soil before planting. They prefer a consistently moist (but not wet) soil environment and enjoy being fed with cottonseed meal or an acid food such as Dr. Earth Organic 4 Azalea & Camellia Fertilizer every two months--from after the blooming season has ended until early fall.

So if your shade garden is lacking pizzazz, add a few rhododendrons to the area and watch it come alive with color in the spring. With so many endearing colors to choose from, there's a color that is bound to please even the most discriminating gardener.

The 'Green Fountain' smoke bush is a new deciduous shrub with dramatic, long-lasting, brownish-pink, smoke-like airy seed clusters smothered in deep green foliage from late spring to early summer, creating a prized accent shrub or specimen. The dense, compact habit provides a neat shrub with low maintenance. It has a compact habit, growing 4-6' tall and 6-8' wide.

The 'Green Fountain' smoke bush thrives in full sun locations. This easy-to-grow plant does exceptionally well with regular watering the first year to help it get established. Once fully rooted it becomes a fairly drought tolerant plant. We recommend the 'Green Fountain' anywhere a bold and unique accent plant is needed in the garden.

What a response to last week's question! Thanks for all those entries.

Please, if you need an answer to a question, telephone us at (562) 947-2013.

This Week's Question: Although olives are a large commercial crop in California, they're not native to the New World. How did they get to the Golden State?

This Week's Prize: Hanging basket fuchsia of winner's choice

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 like Havahart Traps. 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.

What is the best way to get rid of slugs and snails?

Answer:

First, make sure you have slugs and snails, not earwigs (pincher bugs). The best way to tell is if you see shiny snail trails around the garden.

Sprinkle pet-safe snail bait such as Monterey Sluggo around the plants you want to protect, or create a barrier between where they hide during the day (under decks, dark places, and leaf matter) and where they feed at night.

You can also place a bowl of beer out to attract them (stale beer works best). This way they'll have quite a party before they fall in and drown. (Probably won't feel anything either.) Just remove the bowl in the morning so the neighbor's pets don't get drunk.

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