wtopstaff | November 15, 2014 4:14 am
What’s the best advice your mother ever gave you as a child? Call WTOP’s Talkback line at 1-877-222-1035, post a comment in this story, comment on WTOP’s Facebook Page or use #WTOP on Twitter.
WASHINGTON — A bouquet of flowers is a very popular Mother’s Day gift, and WTOP’s Garden Editor Mike McGrath has some advice for picking the right blooms.
There is one rule to remember when buying flowers for Sunday’s holiday, McGrath says: When giving mom a plant, don’t make it more work.
“She has worked for you for X number of years already. Make it an easy-care choice,” McGrath said on WTOP Friday.
Here are some of McGrath’s other tips for getting mom the right floral-themed present:
“There’s no one-size-fits-all for Mother’s Day,” McGrath says.
The plant is also known as “mother-in-law’s tongue,” so be careful giving it to in-laws.
McGrath says they can flower for six months, but had a caller correct him when his lasted for 10 months.
“You don’t want to get a plant with a couple of flowers open and all of these nubs on the stem that shows there have been flowers that have fallen off,” McGrath says.
The Phalaenopsis, known as the Moth Orchid, is a popular flower that is easy to count the buds to improve the plant’s longevity. The flowers open in sequence, so every unopened bud beneath the two true flowers at the top can add two weeks to the plant’s life.
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