THE WEEK SURROUNDING MOTHER’S
DAY is easily the busiest for Tracy
PRETTY IN PINK
(AND WHITE)
Callahan, owner of Bethesda Florist in
Bethesda, Maryland. Business booms, he
says, because so many people celebrate
the holiday.

“Everyone has a mom,” Callahan says.

Mother’s Day is the most popular
time of year for floral shops all over
the country — even beating Valentine’s
Day, believe it or not. And it’s during
May when florists like Callahan see an
increase in orders and requests
for carnations.

With their fringed petals and clean
smell, carnations may not seem all that
remarkable. They’re certainly not as
flashy or eye-catching as a bright orchid
or a colorful tulip. Yet for more than a
century, they’ve been the official flower
of Mother’s Day.

Moms and grandmothers alike can
thank Philadelphia activist Anna Jarvis
for the carnation tradition — and even
the holiday itself. On May 10, 1908, Jarvis
sent hundreds of white carnations, her
late mother’s favorite flower, to her
hometown church in West Virginia for a
BY J E N N AT TA N A S I O
How carnations
became the official
Mother’s Day flower
WHITE CARNATION: MIKHAIL MAKARENKO; PINK CARNATION: SHIRONAGASUKUJIRA/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
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