One of my favorite parts about being home is getting to stop by and see my parents more often. I also get to see what’s blooming in Mom’s garden.

Because Mother’s Day is just around the corner, I thought I’d share a few of her garden flowers with you this week.

Hands down, when I was growing up, this snowball bush was my favorite plant in Mom’s garden. I still love it.

Azaleas abound in Mom’s springtime garden.

Roses, too.

A clematis begins its climb up the wall.

My mother especially loves lilacs. She and Dad took a trip to Pennsylvania a few years ago to see the lilacs in bloom, and they brought home a few lilacs to plant. She claims, “You haven’t lived until you’ve smelled a lilac.” They do have an intoxicating fragrance.

My mother has shared her iris bulbs for years, and before I moved to California, I shared iris bulbs from my garden that had originally come from her garden. She has a wonderful variety, but we’ll have to dig these up later this year to make way for a road project in front of the house. I shudder to think of all that will be lost from her garden, but I know she’ll try to make whatever space is left beautiful again.

Both my mom and my mother-in-law are avid gardeners. Most of what I know about gardening comes from them. Perhaps your mother also passed along a green thumb—or at least a love of flowers—to you, too? For all of you moms out there, I wish you a very happy Mother’s Day! May your day be full of joy and flowers (and maybe even some time to dig in the garden dirt).