For the longest time I struggled finding the right gift for my mom on Mother’s Day – from earrings that wound up in a junk store box the next year, to never worn clothes and unused kitchen gadgets, I whiffed on every gift I gave.  Little did I know, the perfect gift was staring me in the face the whole time at work – a hanging basket!  These treasure troves of season long color have been my go to gift for the past several years, and the stress of picking out a gift has vanished.  Long gone are the days of never-see-again gifts, as my mom longingly anticipates her hanging basket each year, even picking out a Shepards hook to display it prominently in her garden.  At risk of sounding cliche, they are the gift that keeps on giving – an endless source of mood enhancing color, freshly cut flowers and the compliments of the neighbors.

As the history of the hanging baskets suggest, hanging baskets were invented to please a woman.  As far back as 605 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar found himself in a pickle.  His wife, the beautiful Queen Amyitis who had left her home in a lush mountain region to join him in the desert, longed for the flora of her upbringing.  Since the desert soil of his land was infertile, the King commissioned the planting of flowers in baskets and had them placed throughout his castle.  Needless to say his wife was quite pleased with the baskets and in the process the king just happened to construct on of the seven wonders of the world.