Mother’s Day remains one of the most important flower-buying occasions in the United States. National Retail Federation (NRF) survey results show that flowers were a planned gift for 74% of U.S. Mother’s Day shoppers in 2025, while the NRF projected $3.2 billion in flower spending for both 2025 and 2026. USDA data adds the supply context: U.S. growers produced nearly $763 million in domestic cut flowers and florist greens in 2022, while cut-flower imports were valued at $1.9 billion.
Contents
- 2026 Mother’s Day purchasing plans
- 2025 plans and shopping destinations
- The 2022–2024 trend
- Longer-term history from 2015 to 2017
- Who buys and where shoppers go
- Domestic production and imports
2026 Mother’s Day purchasing plans
The NRF’s 2026 projection describes a large planned market for flowers. It projected that 75% of U.S. shoppers would purchase flowers for Mother’s Day and that U.S. flower spending would reach $3.2 billion. These are forward-looking plans for 2026, not a post-season measurement. The figures appear in the NRF report, Mother’s Day Spending Expected to Hit Record $38 Billion.
The same NRF projection said 84% of U.S. adults planned to celebrate Mother’s Day in 2026. Among those celebrants, 54% planned to purchase for a mother or stepmother. The projected average planned spending was $284.25 per celebrant across gifts and celebrations, so that figure is broader than flower spending alone.
Planned shopping destinations were distributed across several types of retailers. Online shopping and department stores were each selected by 33% of 2026 Mother’s Day gift shoppers. Specialty stores were selected by 29%, while discount stores were selected by 26%. These percentages describe planned destinations and are not mutually exclusive: a shopper could plan to use more than one channel.
For floral designers, the 2026 figures point to two separate signals. First, flowers remained a planned purchase for three-quarters of shoppers. Second, the destination data shows that floral buying is not confined to one retail format. Specialty stores, online sellers, department stores, and discount stores all formed part of the planned shopping landscape.
2025 plans and shopping destinations
The NRF’s 2025 report, Mother’s Day Spending Expected to Reach $34.1 Billion, reported flowers as a planned gift for 74% of U.S. Mother’s Day shoppers. The NRF projected $3.2 billion in U.S. Mother’s Day flower spending for the year and expected 84% of U.S. adults to celebrate.
The 2025 average planned spending figure was $259.04 per celebrant for gifts and celebrations. As with the 2026 average, it should not be read as a flower-only budget. The NRF also reported that 57% of Mother’s Day celebrants were shopping specifically for a mother or stepmother.
Online shopping was the top planned destination in 2025 at 36%. Department stores followed at 32%, specialty stores at 29%, and local or small businesses at 25%. The channel figures provide a useful distinction between reach and specialization: online shopping had the highest individual share, while specialty and local businesses still represented substantial planned destinations for gift shoppers.
| Planned measure | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Flowers as a planned gift | 74% | 75% |
| Projected flower spending | $3.2 billion | $3.2 billion |
| Adults expected or planned to celebrate | 84% | 84% |
| Average planned spending per celebrant | $259.04 | $284.25 |
| Online shopping destination | 36% | 33% |
| Specialty-store destination | 29% | 29% |
The comparison uses adjacent NRF planning reports, but the measurements remain projections or survey plans for their respective years. It does not establish actual completed purchases.
The 2022–2024 trend
The NRF reported that a record three-quarters of Mother’s Day celebrants planned to send flowers in 2024. This result appears in Mother’s Day 2024 is all about the classics. The same report said shoppers younger than 25 planned to spend $42 more than the typical consumer, while consumers ages 25–44 planned to budget $80–$90 more than the average consumer. Those age-group differences refer to planned Mother’s Day spending, not necessarily flower purchases alone.
In 2023, flowers were a planned gift for 74% of Mother’s Day shoppers, according to the NRF report Consumers to Spend Record $35.7 Billion for Mother’s Day. U.S. consumers planned a record $35.7 billion in total Mother’s Day spending, and average planned spending was $274.02 per person. Consumers ages 35–44 planned to spend an average of $382.26.
The 2023 shopping-channel data placed online and department stores level at 34% each. This is a planned-destination measure, not a market-share estimate. It indicates that both digital shopping and department-store shopping were common parts of the purchasing plan.
The NRF’s 2022 report, Mother’s Day Spending to Reach Record High, said traditional Mother’s Day bouquets were planned by 72% of shoppers. Projected U.S. Mother’s Day spending was $31.7 billion, and average planned spending reached $245.76. Online shopping was a planned destination for 36% of shoppers.
Taken together, the 2022–2024 figures show consistently high planned flower participation: 72% for traditional bouquets in 2022, 74% planning flowers in 2023, and roughly three-quarters planning to send flowers in 2024. The wording differs slightly across reports, so these measures should be read as closely related rather than perfectly identical.
Longer-term history from 2015 to 2017
The earlier NRF reports provide a baseline for how flower purchasing plans looked before the more recent figures. In 2017, flowers were planned by 69% of Mother’s Day shoppers, and U.S. consumers planned $2.6 billion in Mother’s Day flower spending. The average planned U.S. Mother’s Day spend was $186.39, and 85% of surveyed consumers planned to celebrate.
These 2017 figures come from Mother’s Day spending to reach record-high $23.6 billion. Specialty stores, including florists, were a planned destination for 31% of shoppers, while online shopping was planned by 30%.
Mobile behavior was also measured in that report. Among smartphone owners, 34% planned to research Mother’s Day gift ideas on their phones and 19% planned to use their phones to purchase a gift. These are survey results for smartphone owners, not percentages of all Mother’s Day shoppers.
In 2015, 67.2% of Mother’s Day celebrants planned to buy flowers, and the NRF projected $2.4 billion in Mother’s Day flower spending. The source was Families Spending More Than Ever on Mom, According to NRF Survey. Specialty stores were a planned destination for 28.2% of shoppers, and online shopping was planned by 25%.
The 2015 report also recorded mobile plans among younger smartphone and tablet owners. Among smartphone-owning 18–24-year-olds, 46% planned to use mobile devices to research Mother’s Day gifts and compare prices. Among 18–24-year-olds who owned smartphones and tablets, 30.2% planned to use tablets to purchase a gift.
Who buys and where shoppers go
The available NRF figures show both broad participation and changing channel plans. Flower purchasing was planned by 67.2% of celebrants in 2015, 69% of shoppers in 2017, 72% for traditional bouquets in 2022, 74% in 2023, approximately 75% in 2024, 74% in 2025, and 75% in the 2026 projection. Because the survey descriptions and wording vary, the sequence is best understood as a record of reported planned purchasing rather than a single perfectly uniform time series.
Specialty stores, which can include florists, were selected by 28.2% of shoppers in 2015, 31% in 2017, 27% in 2022, 29% in 2025, and 29% in the 2026 projection. Local or small businesses were selected by 23% in 2022 and 25% in 2025. The 2026 report also recorded discount stores at 26%.
The buyer relationship changed modestly between the two latest reports. In 2025, 57% of celebrants planned to shop specifically for a mother or stepmother. In 2026, the corresponding figure was 54%. Both are planned-purchasing measures among Mother’s Day celebrants.
The destination data also shows why a single “flower shopper” profile can be misleading. Some people may seek a florist or specialty store, while others may use an online marketplace, department store, local business, or discount store. The reports measure intended destinations, and several destinations could be selected by the same shopper.
Domestic production and imports
USDA statistics help explain the supply environment behind Mother’s Day purchasing. The USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture: U.S. flower farms blossom amid growing traditional outdoor cultivation reported that U.S. domestic cut flowers and florist greens were valued at nearly $763 million in 2022.
About 10,800 U.S. commercial farms grew flowers and greens for florists in 2022, and commercial flower farms operated in all 50 states. U.S. growers reported more than 158 million square feet of protected-culture flower and green production, while more than 31,000 acres of flowers were grown in the open.
The same USDA source valued U.S. cut-flower imports at $1.9 billion in 2022. This import figure and the nearly $763 million domestic value describe different parts of the supply picture; they should not be added as though they were one identical measure.
The USDA also reported in U.S. imports of cut flowers and nursery products grew to $3.3 billion in 2022 that the United States imported nearly $3.3 billion of cut flowers, plants, and nursery stock from 81 countries in fiscal year 2022. Fresh-cut roses accounted for more than $800 million of imports. Other fresh-cut flowers, including chrysanthemums, carnations, and lilies, were valued at a combined $1.1 billion.
Colombia supplied $1.2 billion of U.S. cut-flower and nursery-stock imports in fiscal year 2022. From 2018 to 2022, Colombia supplied about 37% of U.S. cut-flower and nursery-stock import value. These figures identify the scale and concentration of imported supply; they do not state what share of Mother’s Day bouquets used imported stems.
Finally, the USDA’s 2026 market report, Colombian Flowers and the American Market After Six Decades of Growth, estimated that Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day together represented roughly 30%–35% of annual Colombian flower export revenues. That is a 2026-report estimate about export-revenue share, not a direct measure of U.S. Mother’s Day purchases.