Hello Everyone,

The summer is going well here at Mankin and Sons, and we are getting new products in every day.  We just wanted to take a minute to share a few pictures with you.  Make sure to schedule a little shopping time sometime soon so you can check out all our new offerings!

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Garden Center Home

Mother’s Day weekend is just a week away, and we have tons of great gifts for the mother in your life!

Our designer outfits are flying off the racks.  These adorable tops, tunics, leggings and more would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift for the mother in your life.  We offer free gift sacking so your Mother’s Day present is ready to go when you walk out of our doors.

Check out our new line of custom painted pillows (above) and hanging chairs swings, or swing by and enjoy the scents of our Michele Design Works candles and soaps (right).

Stay tuned for more great ideas for Mother’s Day, including pictures of our Mother’s Day Fresh Flower specials!

Garden Center Home ~ Floral Home

Here in West Texas there are a few tell-tell signs that winter is passing into spring. Take a look around to see if you notice either of these markers:

1) The “ole timers” say when our mesquite trees start swelling with buds and leaf out, the last frost is past us. This is generally true because mesquites are late bloomers.  Plus, “ole timers” have a little more time spent on earth and experience to back this knowledge up.

2) My Granny says to watch for the scissor-tail flycatchers cutting through the sky and along the fence lines at the edge of town. They have long split tails that look like a pair of open scissors that help make swift changes in direction and they migrate back to us after wintering in Mexico. I have seen this to be a sign of spring arriving as well and besides, my Granny knows everything!

Even though our flowering pears have bloomed out and sleepy perennials are peeking thru, Abilene’s last average frost date is still somewhere between March 13-28. The average frost-free growing season is about 228 days.

While Mother Nature and the Groundhog arm wrestle over Spring’s final arrival, keep this in mind: Water your perennials and tender vegetation to help insulate the root systems from a late freeze. Cover any new growth with sheets or plastic to avoid wind/cold damage.  And let’s have a great Spring!

Article by Mary K. Smith

Garden Center Home ~ Landscaping Home ~ Nursery Home

So begins the much-quoted poem written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1794.  But did you know that in many cultures flowers have a very specific meaning?  In Victorian times, flowers were used to say everything from “I love you” to “I don’t love you any more!”  If a flower bouquet was given and the recipient agreed with the sentiments expressed, he or she showed this by wearing a flower from the bouquet in the hair or on the clothing.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, you may want to know just what you are saying with the bouquet you send your loved one, so here are a few familiar flowers and their traditional meanings as listed in Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers.

• Red Rose = “You are pure and lovely”
• White Rose = “I am worthy of your love”
• Yellow Rose = “Jealousy” or “Decrease of love”
• Daisies = “I share your sentiments” or “Innocence”
• Ivy = “Fidelity” or “Marriage”
• Red Tulip = “Declaration of Love”
• Yellow Tulip = “Hopeless Love”
• Lily = “Purity and Sweetness”
• Heather = “Solitude”
• Larkspur = “Lightness” or “Brevity”
• Dwarf Sunflower = “Adoration”
• Tall Sunflower = “Haughtiness”

Hello friends and customers!  We just got in our new line of JAZZ candles and scents!  We are very excited about offering these beautiful fragrances for your home or workplace.  Check out the pictures below, and then come by the store and smell them for yourself.  One candle fills a WHOLE house, not just a room.  We have over 25 unique scents in stock!