Flower shortage affects Mother’s Day

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Mother’s Day is coming up, and if you plan on picking up some fresh flowers for the special lady in your life, you may be out of luck.

There is a flower shortage, and florists are feeling the demand, but do not have the supply.

The flower shortage is a domino effect resulting from the pandemic. It is not too late for you to purchase flowers, but you may have to pay the price and your options will be limited.

“It has been a perfect storm for having a shortage,” said owner of Wendi’s Flower Cart, Ray Bustillo.

“It has really been a problem this year,” said owner of Heart’s Desire, Amy Canster.

There are several culprits to blame for the flower shortage, but most are directly related to the pandemic.

“They did not have the people to go out and cut the flowers in the field, and a lot of the growers downsized thinking the demand would not be very great,” Bustillo said.

To lessen the stress, Bustillo suggest you, “send mom a nice mixed bouquet instead of that one type of flower, so we can serve all of our customers.”

Some florists are even limiting their orders.

“We’ve got a certain amount that we are taking. We want to get those orders done and get them done correctly,” Canster said.

The most popular types of flowers are the hardest to find.

“It is daisies, carnations, roses, stargazer lilies, they are cutting back on everything,” Bustillo said.

Even in a normal given year, there is a price increase in flowers during busy holiday seasons. Because of the shortage, the price increase is up as much as 20 percent.

“We have not passed it on to our customers because it is not economically feasible, but the wholesale price of flowers has jumped,” Bustillo said.

“It has made a big difference in the amount that people are wanting to spend on the arrangements and stuff like that,” Canster said.

Local florists are working around the clock to fill as many orders as they can, and others have coolers stocked with pre-made arrangement options.

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