Flower growers in Japan's western city of Kitakyushu have started shipping carnations ahead of Mother's Day on May 14.

More than 50,000 carnation pots are shipped each year from Kokuraminami Ward in the city.

One of the nurseries there is run by Okuno Masaya. He grows about 16,000 carnations in hues of pink, red and other colors. The blooms are quite small, so they can easily be arranged at flower shops.

Okuno began deliveries on Monday. He checks the condition of the flowers to ensure they are in good shape and puts labels on each pot before shipping them.

Okuno says weather conditions have been good this year and he hopes mothers will like the flowers.