Mum’s not the word today. Mom is.
You can surround her with all kinds of blooms, herbs and trees at the city’s two beautiful botanic gardens this weekend, and it won’t cost a bundle, either.
In Brooklyn, just follow your nose to the lilacs.
“Lilacs are the traditional Mother’s Day flower because they are generally at their peak flowering around Mother’s Day,” explains Judy Zuk, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “Mums don’t flower until the fall, after many long summer days of lots of light.”
The BBG has been growing lilacs for about 90 years, and it has at least 50 different kinds. And the wonderful way they smell could put swanky perfumes to shame.
“Sometimes when the wind is blowing in the right direction,” Zuk says, “you can smell them all the way out on Eastern Parkway.”
The lilacs come in all different colors – from purest white to inky violet, pink and blue. The bluest ones go by the name “President Lincoln.” (“I guess the breeder must have liked Lincoln,” Zuk says.)
From 1 to 3 tomorrow – Mother’s Day – you can enter your mom or grandmother in a lilac raffle. The drawing’s at 3 p.m.
Also at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Trio Syringa (“syringa” means lilac) will play chamber music outdoors, amid the flowers. At the Discovery Workshop, kids can pot a pansy to take home for mom from 1-3 p.m. And lilac expert Daniel K. Ryniec will answer any questions you have from 2-3 p.m., or you can tour the entire lilac garden with the garden’s guides at 3:30 and 4 p.m.
Finally, at 4 p.m. at the Children’s Garden Pavilion, there’ll be a performance by community gardeners and other green thumbs, as well as drama and writing students, in praise of all things green.
Looking ahead, there’s lots more to dig in the garden. On May 27, it’s all about The Bard. Take a lesson in Shakespearean insults among the roses and peonies of the Shakespeare Garden, or join in an Elizabethan-style vaudeville show.
On June 3, you can step all the way back to medieval times, when there’ll be a jousting tournament and a fashion show, just in case you wondered what the knights and damsels used to wear.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 900 Washington Ave., off Eastern Parkway. Admission is free to all every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon, and kids get in free all the time. At other times, admission is $3 for those 16 and older. For hours and other info, visit http://www.bbg.org or call (718) 623-7200.
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Meanwhile, up in The Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden is also celebrating mothers with flowers – real and paper. At the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, kids can make their own paper flowers, twig picture frames, watercolor paintings, plant bracelets and other arts and crafts tomorrow from 1 to 5 p.m.
Puzzled about pollination? There’ll be a little lesson about the birds and the bees at the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, complete with hand puppets. You’ll even find out why everyone’s been sneezing this time of year. (Hint: Think pollen.)
Brooklyn may be celebrating with chamber music, but The Bronx can boast songs from the Renaissance – for harp, lute and voice – on Mother’s Day afternoon from 2-5.
If waking up and smelling the roses – or lilacs – isn’t enough, listen to “Flower Folk Tales” in the Adventure Garden, where a storyteller will hold forth today and tomorrow afternoon at 2.
And don’t forget the plant sale. You can choose from among 18 varieties of easy-to-care-for, colorful coleus at the Twombly Plant Shop. There’ll also be an orchid sale at the Shop in the Garden.
You might want to bring a camera. And you’ll probably want to tell your mom that this bud’s for her.
The New York Botanical Garden, 200th Street and Kazimiroff Boulevard, in The Bronx, is open free all day Wednesday and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Other times, admission is $3 to $10 (some attractions have a separate fee ). For more info, log onto http://www.nybg.org or call (718) 817-8700.