‘It’s never been Mother’s Day for me’: Why there’s no breakfast in bed for this flower-powered mum

Adelaide florist and mum-of-two Connie Rhigas will be at work at 4.30am on Mother’s Day helping to deliver the love – just like she’s done for the past 33 years.

There’ll be no breakfast in bed for mum-of-two Connie Rhigas this Mother’s Day.

Instead, the 58-year-old florist will be busy at work from 4.30am, helping to bring love to thousands of mums all over Adelaide – just as she’s done for the past 33 years.

Her son, Dion, 27, who has been involved in her blooming flower business in various ways since he was a little boy, will be by her side, helping to make sure Ms Rhigas’s four popular shops are ready for the long queues that will snake out the door on their busiest day of the year.

Many of those lining up for one of Ms Rhigas’s beautiful bouquets will be the sons and daughters of her first customers, who supported her budding business back in 1991.

“I’ve had people get married, I’ve watched them come in with their little children and I’ve watched those children come in and get flowers for their mums on Mother’s Day,” says the successful business owner, who has one $1000 order for an arrangement of roses that spells out the word “mum”.

“And for me, my kids were here in pouches when they were little babies and now people come in and see them as grown men and they say ‘are they your little ones?’ It’s amazing.”

Connie Rhigas and her sons Dion and George Rhigas at Adelaide Flower House. Picture: Mark Brake

Ms Rhigas planted the seed of her flower shop at her inner-city home when she was a flower-loving 24-year-old business graduate working for Price Waterhouse.

Two years later, she moved into her first shop – Adelaide Flower House – on Unley Rd in Parkside.

Today, it has blossomed into a cross-city enterprise that includes The Flower Hutt on Hutt St, The Flower Parade in Norwood and the Flower Depo in Rundle Mall in the city.

She also creates arrangements for weddings and funerals and floral installations for some of the city’s top restaurants and businesses and has a booming online hub, The Flower Web.

“I started working from the kitchen at my home, staying up til late at night,” says Ms Rhigas.

“Now we employ 30 people. They’re all great, all help each other out. I call it our flower family.”

Gardenias are a favourite for Adelaide Flower House’s Connie Rhegis.

Ms Rhigas has sprouted a healthy following on social media, with a fun Mother’s Day video she shot of her and her eldest son, George, 29, taking each other on to see who could produce the most impressive bouquet going viral.

George has worked in the business over the years but now runs his own cafe, 94 West in Findon.

“It’s been great to work with my children but it’s never been Mother’s Day for me, really,” she says. “As a mum, just having my kids around on the day is lovely but we’ve never had breakfast or anything. My Mother’s Day is just work. We always celebrate my mum in the evening but it’s usually very late.”

Daphnes also top Connie Rhegis’s list of favourite flowers.

A bouquet of flowers from Adelaide Flower House.

Ms Rhigas says her mum – who has a garden full of dahlias, swan pods, roses and zinnias – helped to cultivate her love of flowers.

“I think I inherited my love of flowers from my mum and my grandma,” she says.

“My mum loves her garden, it’s her happiest place and she gets lost in it. She’s created her own flower patch … and she’s got the traditional vege patch, too, with tomatoes and lettuces and rocket. My grandma loved her garden, too.”

After more than three decades in the business, Ms Rhegis still loves flowers – especially all-white bouquets of richly perfumed blooms.

“A huge bouquet of gardenias or gardenias with a side of daphne would be perfect for me,” says Ms Rhegis, who likes to keep a vase of beautiful flowers on her desk at the Adelaide Flower House.

“Otherwise, I like a phalenopsis orchid – they last about a month and are perfect … especially if you’re a little bit of a minimalist.

“I really do still love flowers. The girls in the shop are like ‘aren’t you sick of them?’ and I’m like ‘nope’. I just love them”