NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Flowers remain one of the most popular gifts for moms on Mother's Day. However, you'll likely pay higher prices for floral arrangements this year due to tariffs.

The operations manager of Geny's Flowers, Trevor Bradshaw, told News 2 that the Charlotte Avenue florist gets dozens of orders for the occasion, adding that the holiday is second only to Valentine's Day in terms of sales. The shop imports flowers from all over the world — mainly from Central American countries — and they've started to feel the impact from tariffs.

"We get a lot of roses from Colombia," Bradshaw said. "We're definitely seeing tariffs across the board ... We're seeing probably about a 15- to 20% increase. Sometimes, our vendors will hide the tariffs in the cost, so it's tougher to see. A lot of times, though, it is right there on our invoices, so I'm having to add it into our margins."

Most of the flowers Mom loves are grown in countries like Colombia, Canada and Ecuador — where tariffs have been in effect full-force. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. imported nearly $3.3 billion worth of cut flowers from 81 countries in 2022. Data showed that imports of fresh-cut roses alone totaled more than $800 million.

"We're seeing increases on chrysanthemums and hydrangeas and things like larskspur, stalk and delphinium," Bradshaw said. "A lot of these very classic flowers that you see in flower arrangements everywhere."

Bradshaw added that customers have been concerned about the costs of tariffs.

"We have had some customers concerned about it — mostly our wholesale customers, our customers that are depending on our flowers to support their business," Bradshaw explained. "...It's frustrating to be caught in the politics of all this and to see tariffs so abruptly."

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/mothers-day-flower-costs/