Published: May 01. 2010 2:00AM

By Kate Tierney
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Mother’s Day is second only to Valentine’s Day when it comes to gifting flowers. What are moms looking for in the flowers designed to celebrate them? I canvassed a number of Greenville-area moms and was very touched by the many sweet, heartfelt stories they kindly shared. So many great stories, in fact, I think it would make an intriguing book. I will try to do justice in a few pages.

Nostalgia seems to be the prevailing winner when it comes to knowing what mom wants in her bouquet. What granddad sent grandmom often becomes a tradition through generations: three pink peonies for Jill Bishop and a dozen yellow roses for Susan Williams. Sarah Winter remembers her grandmom’s window boxes in Nantucket filled with geraniums, hydrangeas and ivy. Beth Smith visualizes a crystal vase holding pastel violets and lily of the valley for her mom, who would find these special because they were the flowers in her wedding, 50 years ago.

Right, Donna Mumpower gets teary when she talks about the crystal vase her mom filled with red roses to celebrate Mumpower’s first Mother’s Day.

WendySue Woods describes her first Mother’s Day bouquet, received 26 years ago: “A mother’s bouquet should be tender yet strong, as in roses; fragrant and fragile, as in lilies; practical and hardy, as in daisies; whimsical and joyous, as in poppies; and the ultimate and obvious — baby’s breath.

Happy Day: Barbara Bastedo tells of her favorite flowers, a bouquet of alstromeria reminiscent of the corsage she wore in her daughter’s wedding. The arrangement arrived with a note announcing the arrival of a new grandbaby.

From the garden: Lisa DiUmberto dreams of a mason jar filled with herbs picked from her country kitchen garden (the garden being part of the dream!)

I found Alicia Bradshaw’s description irresistible and just had to make it: A clear vase filled with limes and blueberries to kid the stems of blue hydrangea and pure white lilies finished with a twist of twigs.