With Mother's Day quickly approaching, many of us are racking our brains for the perfect gift. Something pretty, maybe flowery, but definitely not that same hanging basket you have given Mom for the last seven years. With a little bit of digging, we've come up with these unique and relatively inexpensive gift ideas.
- Coneflower, gaillardia, monarda, hibiscus and buddleia are among the many plants that draw butterflies to your garden. Breezewood Gardens & Gifts in Bainbridge has wrapped up several of these plants in one-gallon pots and packaged them in a bow-topped basket ($45.98).
- For a more artistic gift, try a hand-painted watering can or coal bucket ($85 to $215) from Uncle John's Plant Farm in Olmsted Falls. All vintage pieces, the cans and buckets are decorated with flowers, fruit or chili peppers.
- Whether she's a weekend weed picker or experienced cultivator of flowers, chances are Mom could use some new tools of her trade. Gale's Garden Center in Brunswick has put all the essentials together in one basket, including gloves, hand tools, seed packets and even a Beanie Baby ($19.99).
- "A lot of people like to dabble in the culinary arts and in the garden," says Phyllis Zielinski, owner of My Back Yard garden store in Lakewood. Zielinski carries more than 150 varieties of certified organic herbs, sold individually for $3.98 or packaged in a gift basket containing three of Mom's favorite herbs.
