There are few people more important in our life than our mother. With a little help from dad, they take care of us, provide for us and shape the person we grow up to be. After such a commitment, us offspring owe our mothers a debt of gratitude - and this need for a collective outpouring of appreciation is what gave rise to Mother’s Day.

Mothering Sunday, which traditionally falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (18th March in 2012), is an occasion afforded to honouring the UK’s mothers - the one day of the year where we can pamper our mums, look after them and let them know how appreciated they are.

With Mother’s Day 2012 fast approaching, you may be wondering about this year’s gesture. Perhaps Mothering Sunday flowers will be a touching way to start the day? A bouquet of hand-tied flowers, arranged by a professional florist with unrivalled attention to detail, creativity and skill, is sure to go down a treat. What’s more, if you buy flowers online you can make things a lot easier for yourself by bypassing that visit to the florist.

The best, freshest bouquets - delivered in a box directly to your home - are complemented by a personalised message. Mother’s Day flowers are beautiful per se, but to really express our gratitude we need to rely on the tangible power of the written word. Your bouquet could and should come with a personalised message, but to get really expressive you’ll need that most fundamental token of gratitude: Mothering Sunday cards.

We all have different tastes and varying ideas when it comes to a heartfelt message for our mums. Some will rely on their sense of humour; others will want to convey something a little tenderer. Fortunately, we no longer have to rely on generic greetings cards - the internet has made it possible for cards to be personalised; not just the message, but the design of the card itself.

Personalised greetings cards are the way forward - you can choose from traditional, contemporary, photographic, humour or cartoon designs, while each can be fully customisable according to your taste and the message you want to write. If your mum hasn’t been the recipient of personalised cards before, you can guarantee yours will go down a treat. And even she is, the opportunities for personalised Mother’s Day cards are so great that you can be sure of bringing a smile to her face.

If you want to make Mother’s Day extra special, you may want to consider Mother’s Day gifts. There are a number of options to choose from - how about a personalised t-shirt? Or maybe your mum would prefer a snugly soft toy? If you really want to push the boat out, you can opt for a gift set or a collection of personalised wines and spirits.

With such a range of goodies, including Mother’s Day flowers there’s certainly no excuse for missing the big day. The internet has made the card and gift-buying process a whole lot easier, and the product range much wider - so you can sit back, relax and look forward to seeing you mum wearing a richly-deserved smile.