SAYING it with flowers on Mother's Day this year means paying up to 50 per cent more for daffodils, and you might have more luck finding a four leaf clover tomorrow than a shamrock.
According to Dublin's growers and suppliers, the cold weather has pushed the prices for traditional spring flowers like daffodils and tulips up by 50 per cent, with sham rocks almost impossible to come by.
Mr Thomas Dukes, of Frank M. Reilly Wholesalers at the Dublin Fruit and Flower Market, said the supply of traditional spring flowers, most of which are imported, is down.
"Supply is down by 50 per cent, so obviously prices are up by 50 per cent. There are plenty of daffodils around now, but they have only become available in the last couple of weeks," he said.
"Daffodils are the most popular choice with children for Mother's Day as they're normally so cheap. It's still the biggest day in the florists' calendar in terms of the amount of flowers sold. It's bigger than Valentine's Day as not everyone has a sweetheart, whereas most have a mother," he said.
Early yesterday morning wholesalers and vendors at the market haggled over the price of this year's elusive shamrock. One wholesaler said a box of shamrocks would in the past have been sold for £3.50, but this year he was forced to charge £10, much to the disgust of a street vendor nearby.
Mr Dukes said that every year he normally sells between 300 and 400 boxes of shamrock, but this year, because of unsuitable weather conditions and poor light, he had only 40 boxes to sell.