On Mother’s Day, Mass. Florists Struggle to Meet Demand

Florists in Massachusetts struggled to meet the demand for flowers this weekend as families observed Mother's Day, Sunday.

Many florists stopped taking orders for Mother’s Day after selling out. Central Square Florist in Cambridge was one of the few still taking orders and delivering.

Herbert Berg Florist in Worcester said demand was too high because they are short staffed and have a limited supply.

"When we all closed up the beginning of March and April, nobody was buying flowers so the suppliers had nowhere to sell them to," said Sally Jablonski, owner of Herbert Berg Florist. "They were just dumping all the flowers."

Gov. Charlie Baker allowed florists and some other non-essential businesses to open — on a remote basis — in time for Mother’s Day, but some business owners said it wasn’t enough time to prepare.

Some businesses, however, got creative to make the day special.

Monument Restaurant in Charlestown partnered with a local florist, Junebug, to create dozens of pre-ordered breakfast in a box packages: meals with flowers.

Social distancing rules are preventing mothers from going out to celebrate, so one Charlestown restaurant decided to put Mother’s Day in a box and bring it to some of them.

“So we’ve been able to get creative with it and do different things to keep engaging with our community,” said Monument Restaurant General Manager Lauren Wheland.

Wheland said her restaurant partnered with a local florist, Junebug, to create dozens of pre-ordered packages: meals with flowers.

Monument’s Mother’s Day brunch in a box to-go was designed as a nice at home or even brunch in bed option.

“We had people order them for friends or loved ones to drop off, so that’s been really fun.” Wheland said.