African Violets Affordable Way To Celebrate 95th Anniversary of Mother's Day

Flowers Are Long-Standing Gift Custom for Mom

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 20 /PRNewswire/ --You wouldn't dare talk about the age
of your own mother, but this year you can brag about the age of her
celebration as Mother's Day turns 95 in May. And if you follow the holiday's
gift tradition of flowers, like an African Violet, you'll be giving her an
affordable and long-lasting gift that continues a tradition for this holiday
that goes back to its founding.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090417/CL00715)

The observance of Mother's Day in the United States began with the gift of a
single flower by Miss Anna Jarvis to all the mothers in a small congregation
in Grafton, West Virginia. Miss Jarvis organized this first official Mother's
Day service to honor her mother, who had spent more than 20 years teaching
Sunday school. President Woodrow Wilson approved a resolution in 1914
officially declaring the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in the
United States. Today, there are over 65 countries that celebrate Mother's Day
on the same day.

Little did Miss Jarvis know that her simple gift would lead to the second
largest spending holiday in the United States, according to the National
Retail Federation. In the Federation's 2008 survey, of the 84.2 percent of
consumers celebrating Mother's Day, almost 70% (66.9%) were planning to buy
flowers for their moms, second only to buying greeting cards, and they are
spending a total of $2.0 billion on flowers.

This year consumers may be watching their wallets more closely and Mother's
Day may be less rosy with people planning to scale back on the quantity of
gifts they buy for their moms. But according to Reinhold Holtkamp, the head
of Optimara and Holtkamp Greenhouses here, the largest grower of African
Violets in the world, the African Violet combines affordability with beauty,
does not skimp on quality and is a flowering plant that will last far longer
than the average cut flowers.

"A flower as the ideal Mother's Day gift is natural," Holtkamp said. "The
holiday began with a living flower because it symbolized the life a Mother
provides, and its soothing and radiant beauty is reflective of each of our
Mothers."

Holtkamp, whose family has been involved with African violets since the
seedlings first came to America adds, "The African violet is a really easy
plant to look after and one that will bloom continuously throughout most of
the year. It is a plant that actually rewards simple devotion." Optimara's
violets come prepackaged in a way that minimizes setup and maintenance. The
plants come rooted in their proprietary potting containers, complete with the
company's unique blend of fertilizer and soil, as well as an embedded wick
watering system, and ranging in colors beyond the shade of violet to include
blue, red, pink white and bi-colors.

Optimara is the brand name of products by the Holtkamp Greenhouses, Inc. More
information is available at http://www.optimara.com or
http://www.selectivegardener.com.

SOURCE Holtkamp Greenhouses, Inc.

Frederick Strobel, Burgundy Group, +1-615-627-1451, +1-615-948-3836 cell,
fgs@burgundygroup.com