SINGAPORE - Valentine's Day may be the peak period for florists here, but Mother's Day is next in line.

Three florists My Paper spoke to expected an increase of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent in flower orders this Mother's Day - which falls on Sunday - compared to last year.

FarEastFlora.com, for example, is expecting an increase of about 20 per cent.

"The economy is fairly robust and people are starting to enjoy the finer things in life," explained Mr Ryan Chioh, FarEastFlora.com's managing director.

Ms Jane Lim, manager of Simply Flowers, expects an increase of 15 to 20 per cent this year, and said that this could be due to customers having more access to floral services through different media platforms, such as Facebook.

Noting that the economy is not in too bad a shape, Mr Samuel Tan, the course manager for Temasek Polytechnic's Diploma in Retail Management, said flower orders could be rising because Mother's Day is becoming more well-received.

He said retailers have been offering a wider variety of products and more ways - such as through social media - for people to order flowers. There has also been a shift in the types of flowers people buy for Mother's Day.

One classic favourite is the carnation, which Noel Gifts said is a symbol of a mother's eternal love. But some florists noted growing interest in non-traditional flowers for the occasion.

Tropifame Floral Design School and FarEastFlora.com said non-traditional flowers make up as much as half of their Mother's Day orders this year, with the latter saying such orders were much fewer two to three years ago.

Simply Flowers expects 30 to 40 per cent of Mother's Day flower orders to comprise non-traditional flowers, such as cymbidium orchids, calla lilies and hydrangeas. Four to five years ago, this proportion was much smaller.

Ms Lim said: "The colours of these seasonal flowers make them special, because most flower shops don't carry them."

Some florists noted that more men are giving their wives flowers on Mother's Day.

Jurliss Flowers said 20 per cent of its Mother's Day flower orders this year are from husbands, versus 10 per cent last year.

Ms Lim said: "Men are not only buying flowers for their mothers, but also for their wives. Some even asked for the same bridal bouquet which we did for their wedding day."

For some first-time buyers of Mother's Day flowers, the wide flower selection is mind-boggling.

A law undergraduate, who wanted to be known only as Jia Wei as he wants to surprise his mother on Sunday, is so overwhelmed that he cannot decide which flowers to buy.

The 21-year-old said: "I've been looking for flowers online for about a week, but the market is so big now that it's difficult to settle on what to get."

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