Petals of love: Three million blooms for mums this Mother's Day
Hermina Bevilacqua has handwritten countless Mother's Day messages on behalf of customers during her decades as a florist.
'When I'm reading all the messages, I feel privileged,' said Bevilacqua.
So, what do they say? ''You're truly amazing. Thank you for everything you do for our family'.'
Australians are predicted to spend about $1 billion on Mother's Day presents this year, with flowers far and away the top pick.
Wholesale flower traders at the National Flower Centre expect to sell more than 3 million flowers, predominantly chrysanthemums, roses, tulips and oriental lilies.
Mother's Day is like Christmas for the flower industry. 'There's certainly a lot more work at this time of the year because demand is tenfold,' said Michael van der Zwet, who grows hydrangeas and anthuriums with his family in Phillip Island.
Preparations start early, with growers starting to plant bulbs for the big day from January.
Anna Jabour, chief executive of Flower Industry Australia, says locally grown flowers have been harvested in the past week and sent off to wholesalers in time for florists to work their magic.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
ASIC boss Joe Longo warns trouble for super trustees who ignore his readings of the riot act
Australian Securities and Investment Commission boss Joe Longo has threatened trouble for superannuation fund trustees who fail to heed warnings to lift their game. After a swathe of negative reports and launching legal actions against high profile funds, Mr Longo said his team had read the riot act to an industry holding the trust and savings of millions of Australians. He claimed none of the trustees of 10 funds caught up in a recent review of death benefits claims had performance objectives for the end-to-end handling times, nor did they monitor this performance. Mr Longo told a regulator's lunch that the super industry had a 'solemn responsibility to protect the interests of all Australians, and to give them every confidence their money will be there, readily available, when it's needed'. 'To the extent that some trustees aren't across the data, systems, and processes of their funds, they're failing to live up to that solemn responsibility,' the ASIC chair said. And there would be trouble for any trustees 'who fail to know their business, inside and out, and to act in the best interests of their members'. Releasing its review of death benefit handling in March, ASIC said it found many examples of excessive delays and poor service, ineffective and insensitive communications and inadequate support for vulnerable claimants. That review was triggered by a tripling in super customers seeking help from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority between 2021 to 2022. ASIC reported what is described as a 'huge variation' in claims handling times across the 10 funds targeted. ASIC claimed 78 per cent of claim files had delays caused by processing issues within the control of fund trustees. Mr Longo said ASIC's work had laid bare governance challenges at super funds and exposed trustee blind spots around their data, systems and processes. The next phase of his agency's work with funds would involved addressing these boardroom blind spots. 'Our focus is on how trustees learn from — and respond to — the complaints they receive,' he said. 'No business can thrive without understanding the people it serves. To do this, it needs market feedback. And a primary source of this feedback is – and always will be – customer complaints. 'If you don't have the right information to make good judgements, you simply cannot govern effectively. It's that fundamental.'
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Major bank's huge call on rate cuts
Westpac says the Reserve Bank of Australia will keep rates on hold when they next meet in July, despite weak consumer spending and falling economic growth. The big four bank has bucked money markets predictions, which are currently factoring in an 84 per cent chance of a rate cut in July, saying the RBA will be 'cautious and predictable'. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis, a former assistant RBA governor, expects just two more rate cuts this year, coming in August and November, saying the market is getting ahead of itself. 'The (RBA) board described itself as having a preference to move cautiously and predictably,' she wrote in an economic note. 'This is code for not wanting to do back-to-back cuts. 'It also made it clear in the minutes that this was about reducing restrictiveness, not moving quickly back to neutral in the style of the Federal Reserve last year.' Westpac believes interest rates will be kept on hold this July. NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar Credit: NewsWire While homeowners may need to wait, Ms Ellis agrees with the majority of the market that interest rates eventually will fall below 3 per cent. To get to this point, Ms Ellis expects rate cuts will come in February and May 2026, though the central bank might also move in December should more Australians lose their jobs. According to the economist, the RBA will look to keep inflation under control over trying to give the economy a quick jump. 'Nothing that has happened since (the May meeting), including a disappointing GDP number, has been enough to tip the RBA into changing its mind in the near term,' Ms Ellis said. NED-9175-Australia's GDP These figures released earlier in the month, showed GDP growth for the March quarter came in at just 0.2 per cent, lower than market forecasts. In May the RBA reduced Australia's GDP forecasts for the 2025 calendar year from 2.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent. Westpac economist Luci Ellis believes weak GDP figures will not be enough to sway the RBA. NewsWire, Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia But AMP deputy chief economist Diana Mousina disagrees, saying the weaker than expected GDP figures will see the Reserve Bank cut rates. 'The weakness in the March quarter GDP data pushed us to now expect another 0.25 per cent rate cut in July (as well as August, November and February 2026),' she previously wrote in an economic note. 'This is similar to market pricing at the moment.' Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen also believes there could be a rate cut in July, if economic data comes in lower than the RBA forecasts. 'The progression of consumer spending data will be a key focus for the RBA ahead of the 8 July rate decision,' she said. 'The balance of probabilities continues to shift towards a July rate cut (our base case remains August) but will depend on upcoming data flow including the May monthly CPI and labour market data.' Weak consumer spending has been a drag on the economy. NewsWire / John Appleyard Credit: News Corp Australia In a silver lining for households, Ms Ellis believes May's jobs data coming out next week will show the current jobs market is tighter than the RBA's view of full employment, meaning more Aussies will have a job. Unemployment Figures Ms Ellis said looking longer term, the case for multiple rate cuts is building as inflation shifts in the face of slower population growth and shakier private sector demand. 'Recent data has made it clear that population growth is unwinding a bit faster than previously thought,' she said. 'We have assessed that this is enough to have implications for housing costs, particularly rents. 'Over time, this puts a little more downside into measures of underlying inflation. We are also seeing a bit more downside in some parts of services inflation.'
West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
‘Cautious and predictable': Struggling homeowners tipped to wait for rate relief
Westpac says the Reserve Bank of Australia will keep rates on hold when they next meet in July, despite weak consumer spending and falling economic growth. The big four bank has bucked money markets predictions, which are currently factoring in an 84 per cent chance of a rate cut in July, saying the RBA will be 'cautious and predictable'. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis, a former assistant RBA governor, expects just two more rate cuts this year, coming in August and November, saying the market is getting ahead of itself. 'The (RBA) board described itself as having a preference to move cautiously and predictably,' she wrote in an economic note. 'This is code for not wanting to do back-to-back cuts. 'It also made it clear in the minutes that this was about reducing restrictiveness, not moving quickly back to neutral in the style of the Federal Reserve last year.' While homeowners may need to wait, Ms Ellis agrees with the majority of the market that interest rates eventually will fall below 3 per cent. To get to this point, Ms Ellis expects rate cuts will come in February and May 2026, though the central bank might also move in December should more Australians lose their jobs. According to the economist, the RBA will look to keep inflation under control over trying to give the economy a quick jump. 'Nothing that has happened since (the May meeting), including a disappointing GDP number, has been enough to tip the RBA into changing its mind in the near term,' Ms Ellis said. NED-9175-Australia's GDP These figures released earlier in the month, showed GDP growth for the March quarter came in at just 0.2 per cent, lower than market forecasts. In May the RBA reduced Australia's GDP forecasts for the 2025 calendar year from 2.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent. But AMP deputy chief economist Diana Mousina disagrees, saying the weaker than expected GDP figures will see the Reserve Bank cut rates. 'The weakness in the March quarter GDP data pushed us to now expect another 0.25 per cent rate cut in July (as well as August, November and February 2026),' she previously wrote in an economic note. 'This is similar to market pricing at the moment.' Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen also believes there could be a rate cut in July, if economic data comes in lower than the RBA forecasts. 'The progression of consumer spending data will be a key focus for the RBA ahead of the 8 July rate decision,' she said. 'The balance of probabilities continues to shift towards a July rate cut (our base case remains August) but will depend on upcoming data flow including the May monthly CPI and labour market data.' In a silver lining for households, Ms Ellis believes May's jobs data coming out next week will show the current jobs market is tighter than the RBA's view of full employment, meaning more Aussies will have a job. Unemployment Figures Ms Ellis said looking longer term, the case for multiple rate cuts is building as inflation shifts in the face of slower population growth and shakier private sector demand. 'Recent data has made it clear that population growth is unwinding a bit faster than previously thought,' she said. 'We have assessed that this is enough to have implications for housing costs, particularly rents. 'Over time, this puts a little more downside into measures of underlying inflation. We are also seeing a bit more downside in some parts of services inflation.'
