The local flower industry is feeling the pressure of rising fuel costs as Tennessee gas prices reach an average of nearly $4.
"One day I got eight different emails from vendors saying fuel charge surcharges are about to happen. We can't help it, everything is going up that we are sending to you," said Anna Page, owner of Rose Hill Flowers. Along with the import pricing, local florists are running their own deliveries. Ahead of Mother's Day, Page said their delivery drivers are visiting the pump often. She said each time she takes one of the trucks for a fill up, she braces to see the total cost.
"It was breathtaking and not in a good way," Page said. Page fills multiple refrigerated trucks with diesel ahead of Mother's Day deliveries. She said just between March and April she spent over $1,000 more than she did around this time last year.
"I have eight delivery vans, so it's shocking when they all have to be filled up especially when we are on the road, when we are about to be," Page said. Coreen King, the owner of Nashville Flower Market, said ordering early for holidays like Mother's Day makes a big difference.
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