When planting, ensure you give your annuals a good start by investing in a high-quality soil like Black Gold Natural & Organic potting mix. Peat-based soils like Black Gold will stay light and loose through the season, allowing for the roots of your plants to develop properly. Mixes like Miracle-Gro soil tend to have more compost and bark which pack down with watering, stifling root development and causing your plants to suffer.

Additionally, don’t bother with a potting soil that claims to control moisture. Even with the nice weather we’re having currently, we will get our share of cool, rainy days, and unless you’re closely monitoring your watering or keeping your pots under cover, “moisture control” soils simply hold too much water. In the end your plants may drown—or, if you rely on the moisture control too much, they’ll go too long without water and die. So commit to giving your plants the water they’ll need this summer and buy a good peat-based soil to make them happy.

Now, if you’re planning to give a planter or hanging basket as a gift Mother’s Day, you have two options: buy one pre-planted or do it yourself. There are advantages to each—pre-planted baskets are easy and the plants are already nicely growing together (a look you’ll never be able to replicate since they’ve been given at least a two month head start); do-it-yourself baskets allow you to choose just the right plants for the mom in your life and add a special touch.

If you opt to put together planters yourself, there are some great options in plants you may not have given much consideration to in the past. For height in the back of a planter that you’ll set on the ground, try ornamental purple millet instead of the usual dracaena (or ‘spikes’) for a different look. Many of the newer trailing calibrachoa varieties add drama and interest with a distinct two-tone appearance. ‘Superbells Blackberry Punch’ has purple blossoms with a near-black throat and ‘Superbells Cherry Star’, a new introduction last year, has a deep pink bloom with prominent bright yellow streaks.

Finally, if you’re looking for a gift for yourself or a loved one this weekend, have you considered good fertilizer? I know, it’s not the most exciting gift, but here’s a secret: every “green thumb” has more than some innate super-gardener gene. We have good tools! And in the world of plant nutrition, the best tools are Jack’s Classic fertilizers. Give your mom—or yourself—a tub of Jack’s All Purpose and Blossom Booster blends and feed once a week, alternating between the two fertilizers. At Vander Giessen’s,  we use Jack’s both in our greenhouses and at home, so if you’re giving flowers to a brown- or black-thumb, gift wrap a couple tubs of Jack’s Classic and give those flowers what they really need.

It’s said that April showers bring May flowers, and that might be no truer than this year. Enjoy the sunny weather and the life it brings to your garden and make your mom or yourself happy this weekend with some fresh new flowers and the tools to make them grow!