Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette The Marketplace Foods Flower Shoppe offers every kind of plant necessary for Mother’s Day.

HOUGHTON — Mother’s Day wouldn’t be Mother’s Day without flowers. Flowers symbolize love and recognition of the bond between mothers and their children.

When Anna Jarvis founded Mother’s Day in 1908, she chose white carnations as the official flower of the holiday, because that was her mother’s favorite flower. Like Anna’s mother, all moms have their favorite flower, and personal preferences are important.

For that reason, the Marketplace Flower Shoppe in Houghton has an impressive selection from which to choose. Catherine Zenner, Flower Shoppe manager, said there is already a huge selection of floral gifts to choose from, and more are arriving this week. “We’ve got a whole bunch of floral displays that are coming in,” Zenner said, “and they’re going to be on sale.

Because flower preferences are based on individual child/mom relationships, the Flower Shoppe offers a huge selection.

“We’ve got an array of flowers. We have azaleas, roses, carnations, orchids, calla lillies, begonias, chrysanthemums, regular house plants, and outside we’ve got hanging baskets.”

In addition to flowers and plants, Zenner also makes sure there are cards balloons. “We’ve got a lot going on in here,” said Zenner.

Because flowers are a symbol of the relationship between moms and children, Zenner ensures that she has a wide selection available.

Azaleas, for example, are symbolic of love, beauty, and femininity, with specific meanings varying by color. Chrysanthemums are often seen as symbols of optimism, joy, and good fortune. Their ability to bloom in the fall, despite the approaching winter, is a symbol of resilience and beauty in the face of adversity.

Orchids symbolize love and beauty to strength and luxury, while Calla lilies represent purity, innocence, and rebirth. Carnations, particularly pink ones, symbolize a mother’s pure and enduring love.

The bottom line, Zenner said flowers are just very popular on Mother’s Day.

“People love flowers,” she said. “That’s mom’s number one choice.”