The price of petals is up this Valentine's Day, but Australian growers want us to stick by them

Romantics across the country may find themselves in short supply of a Valentine's Day bouquet this year, as growers Australia-wide face a later than usual blooming season. Key points: Following a wet year in 2022, florists and growers may be forced to pass higher costs of flowers on to consumers One Ballarat florist says the price of flowers has gone up "significantly", but says prices are justified Micro flower farm owners say there is huge demand for Australian-grown blooms According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the national average rainfall in 2022 was 26 per cent above the average of 587 millimetres between 1961 and 1990, making last year Australia's ninth-wettest on record. "There has been a real rise in small-scale flower farms," Ms Tippett said. Ms Tippett says there is still strong demand for bunches of blooms Sixty kilometres away in Lyonville, just outside of Daylesford, micro flower-farm Fleurs De Lyonville isn't quite fully in bloom yet. A polytunnel at Janae and Chris Paquin-Bowden's micro flower farm outside Daylesford "We're starting to do a lot more weddings and you're telling a bride or a groom, a year in advance, oh we should have these flowers, and these colours for you, if you're booking that far in advance we needed the polytunnels as an insurance policy," Mr Paquin-Bowden added.