HONOLULU -- Chinatown florists say getting tuberose has been tough long before May Day and Mother's Day.

"We usually order about 4,000 flowers right now they give us 600 so that's the situation," said Francis Wong, with Jenny's Leis and Flowers.

It's been slow for pikake and ginger too and the demand for fragrant flowers during this time is up. It's also prom season and graduation too.

"The supply is low. We can demand more, that's the way it is," said Wong.

Wong's been told not to expect to see production of the local flowers to go back up until July.

Tuesday afternoon the orchid supplier had plenty to deliver on Beretania Street.

These are boxes filled with thousands of orchids from Thailand that lei makers will get busy stringing for this weekend's graduations.

But why the shortage of this season's local favorites?

"We had such a long winter that the flowers just didn't come out this year and if we were fortunate to get it, it just flew off the shelves -- it really did," said Linda Saito with University Flowers. "It was very windy, unusually, and very cold a few months ago we were using blankets."

Saito was advertising what was in abundance for Puakinikini and Gardenias.

The Mother's Day florists said it seemed like everyone was looking for something fragrant.

There was only one pikake lei left in the shop, others were completely out.

"These fragrant flowers aren't impossible to find but it does take a bit of luck. It's all in the timing," Saito said.