Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honour of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. However, the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.” Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”, the main church in the vicinity of their home, or a special service. Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s. Below we have some interesting Mother’s Day facts and a selection of beautiful gift ideas to treat loved ones. At The Candle Tree we have lots more inspirational treats to help you pick the perfect gift, available at our picturesque Gloucester based shop and online at The Candle Tree.

• More calls are made on Mother's Day than any other day of the year.

• Reportedly there are approximately 122 million calls are made on the second Sunday of May every year.

• Around approximately one quarter of all the flowers purchased throughout the year are bought for Mother's Day.

• The first thing a baby can vocalise is the 'ma' sound, which is why in almost every language the word for mother begins with the letter 'M' or is some iteration of the 'ma' sound.

• Every Mother's Day there are approximately 152 million Mother's Day cards sent worldwide. 30 million cards in UK are sent!

•  In India, people celebrate Durga-puja, a festival that pays homage to the mother goddess, Durga. The festival is a ten-day event that takes place around September or October.

• The Greeks would have spring celebrations in honour of Rhea, the goddess of fertility, motherhood, and generation.

• Traditionally, Carnations are the official flower of Mother’s Day, the colours of the beautiful spring flower carry different meanings on Mother's Day: white carnations honor a mother who has died, while pink ones celebrate a mother who is living.

Bloom Remedies Radiance Trilogy Happiness Set

This beautiful set of travel sized Radiance favourites is a perfect Mother’s Day gift. Presented in a luxury embossed gift box, would make the perfect thoughtful gift. Designed to instil moments of bliss into your day, and to help uplift your energy and bring you joy. Bloom Remedies Radiance is the perfect wellbeing blend for dark days. Whether the gloom is on the outside or inside, this uplifting and fragrant organic bath oil brings the Radiance back in. Blended with some of the finest organic essential oils to lift and enhance your spirits and mood, including Bergamot, Mandarin, Lemongrass, and Ginger. We call it the sunshine blend, and for good reason, it is reminiscent of a Cornish beach in the summer, or the sun breaking through the grey on a cloudy day, perfect for escapism in the bathtub. The perfect ritual set for aromatic happiness.  Apply the body oil after showering and deeply inhale, then spritz around you during the day with Bliss Mist to boost your mood.  Use the Pulse Point roll-on to wrists and temples during the day to enhance energy and sunshine moods. 100% vegan and in a luxury frosted glass bottle with bamboo lid that helps the environmental journey towards plastic free.

Kew Gardens Bergamot & Ginger Hand Cream

This beautifully illustrated packaged hand cream by The English Soap Company is a lovely Mother’s treat. Bergamot & Ginger Botanical Hand Cream has a Mediterranean scent with a beautiful balance between citrus and spice. Ginger is a delightfully warming and comforting scent, this luxury hand cream is balanced with zesty bergamot. With a floral heart of lily of the valley, peony, rose, jasmine and carnation, the fragrance is balanced with a rich base of amber, sandalwood, leather and musk. Enriched with Shea butter to moisturise all skin types. Shea Butter will give your hands an extra barrier to the elements, these beautiful luxurious hand creams have been developed using a range of ingredients, that are as natural as possible, to nourish and deeply moisturise. Shea Butter features in many of them, rich Shea Butter is the best moisturising and protecting ingredient for the hands, it is a skin superfood that comes from the seeds of the fruit of the Karite tree. Shea helps in the skin’s natural collagen production and contains stearic, palmitic and linolenic acids that help in protecting and nourishing the skin which helps prevent drying and chapping. The natural vitamins and fatty acids found in shea make it extremely nourishing and moisturising for skin. Apply after washing hands to lock in moisture and add a protective barrier.

Magnolia and Pear Kew Gardens Soap

A stunning soap treat for mother’s Day from The English Soap Company. Magnolia and Pear Kew Gardens Soap is part of an exclusive range of luxury soaps by The English Soap Company, inspired by the fragrances and beauty of the plants at The Royal Botanical Garden, Kew in London. The scented soap is enriched with nourishing shea butter to create a moisturising soap bar, suitable for all skin types. The plastic free wraps are printed with images selected from Kew Garden’s historic archives to give the product its unique design. Beautiful blends of flowers and fruits, this fragrance features magnolia and pear as leading notes. Orchid, freesia, rose and lilies creates the heart of the fragrance, with a musk base of dry amber and patchouli. This Kew Gardens Magnolia and Pear soap bar is Made in the UK with pure vegetable oils, using  traditional triple milled methods to create a luxury soap bar leaving the skin soft and smelling fresh. This product is vegan friendly, cruelty free and free from parabens, SLS and SLES. Made by The English Soap Company, the paper packaging is fully recyclable. Lather with warm water and wash off to leave skin cleansed and nourished. When not in use keep the soap bar in a dry and cool area.