Happy Mother's Day

It is Mother's Day this Sunday, and gift shops and florists are feverishly pitching for sales of every kinds of gift imaginable. Of course an ever popular gift for Mother's Day is fresh flowers as nothing says it better than flowers.

According to Aboutflowers (http://aboutflowers.com/flower-holidays-occasions-a-parties/mothers-day/mothers-day-flowers-colors-floral-design-trends.html), popular flowers for Mother's Day include:

• Callas
• Freesia
• Gerberas
• Hydrangeas
• Irises
• Lilies
• Orchids
• Roses
• Tulips

Carnations are commonly associated with Mother's Day over here. Dianthus caryophyllus or Clove Pinks come in an assortment of colours. The name Dianthus is derived from the Greek, meaning divine (dios) flower (anthos). True blue carnations are not available naturally, as they do not produce the blue pigment delphinidin. Through genetic manipulation, a company in 1996 extracted certain genes from petunia and snapdragon flowers to produce a blue-mauve carnation, commercialized as Moondust.

The bluish mauve, genetically modified Carnation Moondust - picture from Wikipedia.

In Australia, the traditional flower for Mother's Day is Chrysanthemums. Logically, it is a very wise choice of flower since Mother's Day would fall around autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, and chrysanthemums would be in season then. Usually white coloured Chrysanthemums are given if the person receiving it is deceased and coloured if the recipient mother is still alive. I love Chrysanthemums, but do still find it a little odd to give Chrysanthemums. This is possibly the Asian side of it, with Chrysanthemums being solely used for worship and the dead, regardless of colour.

And what did I get for my mum? I got her a card with a rather cheeky saying in it, besides the usual headaches that I give her. To all mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day!