What your mother isn’t telling you

Say it with geraniums this year at the Arboretum, or explore some other Mother's Day options around the county.

She’ll smile, hug you and say thanks—maybe more than once.

She’s your mother, after all. But deep inside, you can’t help wondering whether your time-honored Mother’s Day brunch-and-bouquet routine has Mom thinking you’re just a little bit challenged in the creativity department.

Here’s your chance to change her mind. Los Angeles County facilities are offering a wide range of out-of-the-ordinary diversions to explore this Mother’s Day weekend.

For instance, it’s a great time to check out the 124 acres of the scenic Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. On Saturday and Sunday, May 12 and 13, the International Geranium Society will hold a Mother’s Day Geranium Show. Local hobbyists, enthusiasts and experts will display exotic varieties of the flower, cultivated from plants originating in South Africa. If your mother has a green thumb of her own, show her the new “Garden for all Seasons,” which demonstrates the latest in environmentally friendly, year-round cultivation of fruits and vegetables.

If your mother is a music lover, why not take her to the 9^th Annual Mother’s Day Jazz & Blues Extravaganza at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre? Every seat in the roofed, outdoor venue is no more than 94 feet from the stage and guests are welcome to bring a picnic. Purchase tickets online to save a few bucks.

If mom’s more an Earth mother type, perhaps she’d enjoy an outing to the Natural History Museum (and possibly getting there on Metro’s brand-new Expo Line). In addition to the new Dinosaur Hall (motherhood bonus points: the only known fossil of a pregnant plesiosaur), there’s also Hall of Gems and Minerals and the Insect Zoo to explore, along with the Butterfly Pavilion, which boasts 53 unique living species. For even more bonus points, take a walk down memory lane in the famous Exposition Park Rose Garden, directly to the south of the museum.

Outside these L.A. County offerings, there are other goings-on Mother’s Day weekend, like free babysitting and a spa Friday at UCLA’s Mother’s Week, a family bluegrass jam at the Fowler Museum and card-making and stories at the Craft and Folk Art Museum.

If you absolutely must do the brunch thing, combine it with a trip to lush and rustic Topanga Canyon, where the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum Mother’s Day event features dance, music and circus performances.

Your mother has eaten eggs, muffins and toast before. She probably hasn’t seen an aerialist perform while she’s eating them. Now is as good a time as any to give her a brand-new experience. What a smart, cultured son or daughter you’ll be!

Posted 5/9/12