Reuters: "I love you Mom but can't afford to send flowers" (May 6, 2008)

Love for Mom is a given, but buying flowers on her big day may not be.

A slump in flower sales since late last year will likely continue through Mother's Day, another example of Americans cutting back on spending due to recession fears and escalating food and gasoline prices.

"If you look at what's happened on Valentine's Day and Christmas, the market for flowers has cooled," said Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray. "Growth has slowed in the past two quarters. Mother's Day will probably be a slow quarter, too."