Mother's Day 2026 · Petal Price Index

We found the cheapest Mother's Day flowers in America.

Maya called them. She's an AI. Over nine days, she rang 1,508 florists across 17 cities. 463 picked up. 10 figured out she wasn't human. Here's what they said about prices.

1,508 Calls placed by an AI

463 Picked up & quoted a price

$75 Median bouquet, nationally

10 Florists who detected the AI

See what we found ↓ Browse the data

What we found

Six things the data showed.

Not opinions. Not estimates. Things actual florists said on actual phone calls, captured in transcripts you can hear next.

A bouquet costs twice as much in some cities as others

Same product, same week, same question. Median bouquet prices range from $50 to $100 across the 17 metros we called. Geography is the biggest single price variable in the dataset.

Florists who openly admitted the markup

22 florists used phrases like "the price went up for Mother's Day" or "our florals go up about three times" in their conversation with Maya. The word "tariffs" came up exactly once.

"Our florals go up about three times"

A Seattle florist said this on tape. The flower wholesale market raises prices roughly 3x during the week leading up to Mother's Day, and almost every florist passes that through.

Florists who figured out the AI

Out of 463 picked-up calls, 10 florists realized they were talking to an AI. One asked Maya to laugh to prove she was human. Maya laughed. The florist accepted it.

$98 → $1,000

No such thing as a "normal" bouquet

A Las Vegas florist quoted $98 to $1,000 in a single sentence. A Boston shop offered $50 to $425. A New York florist said simply, "The sky's the limit."

Already sold out a week early

33 florists across 17 cities had stopped taking orders for May 10 by the time Maya called. Several said they were "all moms here" and shutting down for the day.

Hear the calls

The recordings.

Real phone conversations between Maya and small business florists across America. Names and locations are not shown to protect the businesses. Audio is unedited.