15 Mother's Day Gifts to Impress Any Hard-to-Buy-For Mom

I was first introduced to Mohr’s rosinweed on a botanizing trip to northern Alabama. It’s a true native stalwart and one of the many durable plants in the genus Silphium that are indigenous to prairies, meadows, and grasslands across the United States. These resilient members of the aster family are known to be both beautiful and extremely low maintenance in a garden setting.

Having decided to spare a few allium (probably A hollandicum) for today’s vase, I sought other material on the purple spectrum, cutting Geranium phaeum ‘Raven’, a deep purply-blue aquilegia and foliage from Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ – but the combination just didn’t seem to work. Glancing up at the wisteria W floribunda ‘Multijuga’ in all its glory, it occurred to me that the purple hints in the racemes were on the same spectrum as the allium – would they last in a vase? I have no idea, but I decided to give them a try.

We have had some very pleasant days this week, warm and mostly sunny and never uncomfortably hot, so lots of gardening jobs have been done – perhaps as well, as our open days are suddenly creeping up really quickly.  I still took time out to go for a walk on one of the days, choosing a route I have avoided for some time because it crosses fields which will have been muddy and difficult to walk through for many weeks. Taking a slight detour, I entered a small woodland which from experience I know is host to naturalised bluebells. Unfortunately, a fallen tree and overgrown paths meant I failed to get the full experience this year, but it made me aware just how realistic our own little woodland is. Despite being planted with trees, bluebells, wood anemones, wild garlic, fritillaries, snowdrops, comfrey and more, many other things have arrived uninvited and there is a real woodland feel to it, even more so at this time of year, as the green canopy closes in and brings an air of coolness and greenness. Lovely…

I have often thought of myself as “gardening against the odds.” My rural Black Earth, Wisconsin, garden is adjacent to a marsh and pond and is technically in Zone 5a, but the open farmland and subsequent winds around me place it closer to Zone 4b. I’ve lost plants to harsh winters, deer, rabbits, and woodchucks. I’ve had snapping turtles till up my garden beds to make nests and beloved woody plants destroyed by beavers. As if all that weren’t enough, the majority of the shade in the garden is from black walnut trees, which cause lots of problems, like robbing moisture and nutrients from surrounding plants.

Summer Perennial Bed with Mighty Chestnut Daylily 'Mighty Chestnut' daylily is a mighty fine addition to summer perennial beds. Add colorful perennials to summer-blooming beds

Today we’re exploring more of Jay Sifford‘s lesser-seen back garden. We’ve toured and featured the award-winning landscape designer’s immaculate stylized meadow front garden, but now we’re wondering why the blooming bogs at the back of his home aren’t getting more attention.

It’s always a treat when award-winning landscape designer Jay Sifford sends in photos of his fabulous home garden in the mountains of North Carolina. Today, we have an extra-special treat:

Having cut spent flowering stems from all the hellebores over the weekend, amassing a large trugful of them, rather than compost them all I decided to use several stems in today’s vase. Not only was it the last opportunity this year to use hellebores in a vase, but this time I could also be sure, with seedpods well-swollen, that the stems will remain upstanding, unlike vases when the blooms were fresher. I wish I could tell you what colour the original blooms were, but I can’t; now, they are a very pale green with dark speckled centres, giving them a kind of vintage appearance.

Having mentioned before that the rhododendrons seemed to be flowering better than any other year, I can also say that I don’t recollect ever seeing anything with blooms as dense as this before – R. yakushimanum ‘Vintage Rose’ is absolutely astounding! Mind you, I don’t think I remember seeing destruction quite as quick or efficient as that experienced by Fritillaria imperialis either!

THE AREA around Philadelphia is well known for its richness of public gardens, including many historic ones. But the region is also home to an impressive roster of distinctive private landscapes from formal 19th century European-style estates to mid-century modern residences and contemporary ones. Now, a new book takes us inside the gates of 21 of them, places filled with ideas for our own gardens maybe, too.

Mother's Day is just around the corner and it's time to show your mom just how much you appreciate her. If gift-giving isn't your strong suit, you're not alone—moms can be really hard to shop for. How can you convey all the love you have for her in a simple gift? Every year I find myself scratching my head at what to get my mother, and I'm constantly in competition with myself and my siblings.

Carson Downing