I used to work in a flower shop. On mother's day we'd have a decent number of off-the-shelf (not ordered ahead of time) bouquets in cemetery vases with detachable spikes that let you plant the vase in the ground. When people bought those, it was always important to ask them to make sure they knew what they were buying.

I guess it might seem awkward to bring that up, but if somebody's mom died, they already know that. They're already thinking about that because they're buying the flowers for the cemetery, so you just have to be a grown up and treat it like a part of life. Because in a lot of cases you'll have somebody choosing a cemetery vase not knowing what that particular style of vase implies, and then giving it to a living person who does know. That can lead to embarrassment or in an absolute worst-case situation might be interpreted as some kind of shady message.

So do ask some questions when people are buying flowers in a cemetery vase.

And, yeah, it was super sad whenever little kids were buying those on mother's day and actually knew what they were for.