In Russia, flower sales boom for International Women's Day In the first week of March, crowds line the narrow petal-covered lanes of Moscow's Rizhsky flower market. Employers from all over the Russian capital rush to the huge hall to buy flowers for their female employees that they will gift to them on March 8, International Women's Day. A legacy of the Soviet era, March 8 is widely celebrated in Russia where it is a public holiday. IMAGES of flower market and SOUNDBITES of flower vendors