Wholesale cut flower prices more than doubled this year, cutting retail margins to the bone, florists say.
Supply fell earlier in the year when alert level 4 lockdown restrictions made it hard for growers to work. Some abandoned crops completely because they were unable to tend them.
Flowers are sold at auction, which adds competitive pressure on prices. Florists said bidding was starting very high.
Avondale florist Philip Selwyn said he had been paying between 50 percent and 70 percent more at auction for the past several months.