Madeleine Soder was hoping to order some pikake for her wedding this weekend, but she couldn't find a supply of the flower for lei. She had to switch to tuberose instead.

"Because it's prom weekend, it's not a good weekend," she said.

Lei sellers are bemoaning the dearth of many fragrant blooms, with Lei Day on Monday. It's also prom season, and Mother's Day approaching May 15.

Much of the flower supply that was available went to Hilo for Merrie Monarch last weekend, lei makers said.

"If you were going to order for Lei Day, you should've gotten your order in two weeks ago," said Holly Reiplinger of Po'ohala Lei & Flowers in Chinatown. "I'm serious — unless it's something simple."

While Reiplinger said she was "crazy-busy," she took a moment from serving the crowd ordering lei and flowers for Secretary's Day earlier this week to explain that some lei are available — orchid and tuberose, for example.

But you're out of luck for pakalana, lehua or 'ilima.

"Merrie Monarch took a lot of stuff, and that big rain set us back," Reiplinger said. "We had a crop, but once it came in, it damaged a lot of flowers."

Expect to pay a bit more, not only because of the short supply. It's a seasonal hazard.

"Once May comes around ... (the price) goes up a little bit, but not too drastic," Reiplinger said.

Other Chinatown lei shops and a Ward area florist reported being out of pikake, 'ilima and pakalana.

"Most of the local flowers are in short supply," explained Monty Pereira, of Watanabe Floral, a wholesaler/retailer that also sells to such retailers as Costco. "We're still not recovered from the torrential rains of March for carnation heads and tuberose, though there seems to be adequate supply of ginger."

Pereira knows the delicate white pikake is a favorite for proms and Mother's Day, so Watanabe asked local suppliers to make theirs a standing order.

"The thing with pikake is, they're very fragrant flowers, and don't ship well," Pereira said, then added with a laugh: "We're trying to get people in Asia to try to grow it, to try to work on something — steroids for the plants or something."

He suggests substituting maile lei from Polynesia, Micronesia ginger, or using Thai orchids, though that doesn't help the local growers.

"It's real sad, with the rain," he said. "Some floral farm places were literally wiped out. For them to be wiped out when you really move a lot of lei, it's very crushing for them."