I can't think of any WS seedlings that will be sizeable by May in our zone. One feature of WS seedlings is that they are much smaller in the spring than greenhouse or indoor grown seedlings, but they catch up and often surpass them by mid/end of summer! Perennials will usually remain small for the first season. However, annual flowers, herbs, and veggies will grow quickly after May, and make Mom happy thru the summer. The herbs you list are generally perennial and will be tiny for the first season (I've winter-sown oregano, thyme, rue, and savory, all perennial herbs). How about basil, parsley, or dill, which will grow quickly and are very popular herbs. Parsley and Dill are also host plants for Black Swallowtails, and kids usually love caterpillars! For flowers, how about annual Sunflowers or Rudbeckia hirta. Many pretty varieties of these.

Originally I used the trench-edging method. But that needed refreshing three times a year (spring, mid-summer, and fall) so it became a big chore as the garden got bigger. Plus, since I use a walker for mobility, I had much the same problem as NHBab's husband with the mower :-) It was annoying - and hazardous- to have a wheel drop into the trench! So I moved to the metal edge + brick option. That worked quite well. But the winter of 2015/2016 caused a lot of frost heave for the metal edge. Along the 'moat bed' where the metal was highly visible, we actually lifted the sod and added more soil to hide the metal edge! In other places, I have planted things to drape over the edge - but when the plants are dormant the metal is annoyingly visible! Along the garage bed where it is shady, I planted hostas as an edging and removed the metal and bricks last week. I wish there were big leafed plants like hostas that would work well in full sun! In the shady backyard there is only a bit of brick edging - without metal edging as there is no grass near the edging to invade it. So the edging is only an issue in the sunny front garden. I'm not happy with the look of some of it now but am also not prepared to do the work to do a major overhaul, so will be tinkering with plants to hide the most egregious problem areas :-) I don't think there is any perfect edging!

Actually, a gift card to our local nursery is an excellent idea. She's pretty particular about her plants, but she does love hanging baskets and items for her porch. IdaClaire, we get my mil a hanging basket every year for Mother's Day. This year our favorite greenhouse made a website, so customers can place their orders ahead of time and then pick up curbside. mtnrd, it's the same here, in our part of Alberta. Only one person from each household/family is allowed at the greenhouses and nurseries. One place is allowing two shoppers max in each greenhouse.

It depends on the flowers you send. If you send orchids that have no fragrance (and many of them do have a fragrance), there is less danger of offending someone. My brother got some nice orchids when he was in the hospital for colon cancer (he was in for two weeks, I think), and the flowers were a cheerful addition, especially since he was there for so long. However, he was on the top floor of Cedars-Sinai in Beverly Hills and had quite nice views, although he could barely get out of bed to see them. I am allergic to a lot of flowers than end up in floral arrangements, especially Oriental lilies (Asian lilies not so much) and anything in the daisy family. When I was in the hospital, my sister sent a potted arrangement of succulents, which I could then grow in my back yard later. I also got Kevin's orchid to bloom again the following year, with even more flowers. It is a phaleonopsis, and I've not always had such luck with those. What is really bad is when patients cannot have visitors, as personal visits can do a lot to help someone - more than flowers.