Flowers plentiful and affordable this Mother's Day

Some good news for shoppers this Mother's Day: An especially long, cold winter means there's an abundance of tulips for sale at local farmers' markets — and at prices that probably won't break the piggy bank.

The bulbous flowers usually bloom in April, too late for Mother's Day. Not so this year, as the prolonged winter kept many tulips from blossoming until now.

"Remember, it snowed in April," said Carlita Mendez, a Pacific flower farmer who was selling tulips at Pike Place Market earlier this week for $1 each. "We're lucky that we have tulips for Mother's Day, because people love them."

Pike Place Market, which has long held a reputation as a place to buy inexpensive, locally grown flowers, expects bouquets by some 40 vendors to spill out onto the streets Sunday. Smaller markets in the University District, West Seattle and Capitol Hill will have the usual number of flower stands, said Chris Curtis, director of the Seattle nonprofit Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance.

Mother's Day represents the year's biggest selling opportunity for many flower vendors, but widespread concerns about a possible U.S. recession, as well as rising food and gas prices, could cause shoppers to rein in their spending on Mom.

Everson's Alm Hill Gardens posted handwritten signs at Pike Place this week promising lower prices than commercial flower shops for its pink and white lilies. The signs noted that others sell them for $6 each. Alm Hill's prices: "Only $3 per stem or 4 stems for $10. We're crazy!!!"

"With a difficult spring, we have many more flowers now than we anticipated," said Anne Smith, who sells flowers at the Market for Alm Hill.

The abundance of flowers means vendors must find new ways to grab shoppers' attention. "We've had to lower our prices in the past month to stay competitive," Smith said.

That's a problem for flower farmers, who have seen their operating costs go up along with fuel prices. Mendez said she used to drive to Pike Place daily to sell her flowers but now thinks twice about the gas-guzzling commute.

"I'm almost 30 miles away," she said. "If I think it's going to be a slow day, I don't go anymore."

Even so, Mendez, who sold mixed bouquets Monday for $5, plans to charge twice as much this weekend. "Everybody buys flowers for Mother's Day," she said.

— Amy Martinez

Giraffe, a women's clothing and accessories shop, has opened at the new Avalon Meydenbauer apartment complex near Bellevue Square. In mid-June, a 55,000-square-foot Safeway store will open at the mixed-use development, said Stacy Reid, a Cushman & Wakefield real-estate broker who is handling the project's retail leasing.

Others to sign on as retail tenants include Boeing Employees Credit Union, Zounds Hearing, Desert Sun Tanning, LensCrafters, Andre's Dry Cleaners, Vitamin Shoppe, Happy Nails, Cefiore Frozen Yogurt and Subway. — AM

Shins band member Eric Johnson will deejay the grand opening of Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream in Wallingford at 3 p.m. Saturday. Owner Molly Moon Neitzel uses local and organic ingredients in her ice cream, which includes such unusual flavors as cardamom, salted caramel, balsamic strawberry and Vivace coffee. — MA

Pizza Fusion plans to open Washington's first LEED-certified restaurant this summer, the fast-growing Fort Lauderdale, Fla., chain said. It also will be Pizza Fusion's first restaurant in Washington state, in the Trace Lofts at 12th Avenue and East Madison Street. The chain has more than 70 stores in development in 12 states. Six will be open by next month. — MA

Wallingford Center, a shopping and residential complex housed in an early 20th-century elementary school, announced two new retail tenants: Bad Woman Yarn, a knitting and yarn shop targeting the "insatiable knitter," and So Much Fun Sporty Chic, which sells women's activewear.

Also, women's clothing and accessories retailer Yazdi has expanded on the building's second floor. The additional space allows it to offer more dressing rooms and clothing in more sizes. — AM

Starbucks might reinstate valencia syrup, according to a posting on MyStarbucksIdea.com. That is among many ideas under consideration after being suggested on a twin site that only employees can access. Some Starbucks employees and customers are clamoring for the return of other syrup flavors, including almond. "I've been told by numerous employees that they don't understand why they got rid of it, because it was a popular flavor," said Valerie Stephan, who was dubbed "2 a.m." by Starbucks baristas in Mill Creek because of her usual order, a double-tall almond mocha. "I've been ordering that drink for 15 years. Now I order a double mocha and put the almond in at home, or I go somewhere else." — MA

Hansen's Florist, a Georgetown neighborhood fixture since 1945, says it has received word from its landlord, Korean Central Baptist Church, that it must be out by July 31. The church occupies two floors above the floral shop and a portion of the bottom floor at 1201 S. Bailey St., and it needs the room to expand.

Store manager Helen Hansen said she hopes to persuade the church to change its mind, noting that she can't find comparable space elsewhere in Georgetown. The store features a large interior mural of the neighborhood, and moving it is pretty much out of the question. — AM

Bon Mange in Bothell has released the SorbayPC Lozenge, which it calls a "pleasant neutral tasting sugar-free hard candy" that cleanses the palate. A bag of 30 lozenges is $8.85 on the company's Web site. — MA

Esquire magazine's June issue features Vessel in Seattle and Geoduck Tavern in Brinnon, Jefferson County, as two of the "Best Bars in America." The section also calls out Zig Zag Café in Seattle for a drink called Deshler (rye whiskey, Dubonnet, Cointreau and bitters), which the writer considers one of the 10 best drinks he had in the past year. — MA

Retail Report appears Fridays. Melissa Allison covers the food and beverage industry. She can be reached at 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com. Amy Martinez covers goods, services and online retail. She can be reached at 206-464-2923 or amartinez@seattletimes.com.