All this rain is certainly flooding homes but it's also drying up business.

Patios are empty, boat tours can't cruise and tourists are asking "where are the tulips?"

You'd almost swear the tulips were shivering today. I certainly was. Mid-May and the closest we've gotten to some heat is the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill.

It's high noon and a couple hundred folks are clearing their minds and hopefully clearing the skies, doing a little sun salutation.

“Oh my gosh, it’s been brutal,” says Madison Skotnicki, as she rolls out her mat on the grass in front of the Peace Tower.

This is the first session of Yoga on the Hill. The grass is a still little squishy and the air a little cool.

“I think everyone is aching for the warm weather,” says her friend, Emily Ouelette.

And for that reason, these yoga enthusiasts people are ignoring the chill, knowing full well this isn't hot yoga.

“It's so nice,” says participant Jessica Dwyer, “We're finally taking advantage of the sunshine.”

Unfortunately, that sunshine disappeared shortly after that, along with the patio crowd at The King Eddy in the Byward Market.

“The patio was full,” says employee Nick Bedard, “and as soon as it started raining, there's no one here.”

Patios aren't the only business hurting. Cruise boats have been banned for now from the Ottawa River. For seasonal businesses like Capital Cruises, it is critical time they can't make up and that's meant about 15 layoffs and a loss of revenue.

Kurt Huck is the President and CEO of Capital Cruises, “Already we are $50,000 out and with this long weekend, it will be closer to $100,000 in lost revenue.”

At the Canadian Tulip Festival, Melissa Khoury's pants are sprouting more flowers than many of the tulips

“We were expecting more sun,” she says, “so I thought I’d bring the sun out with this outfit.”

This should be prime tulip time but, like us, they need heat and sun.

“We love the Canadian weather, we're Canadians,” says Montreal tourist Daniel Rosenthal, “We spent 5 months in Florida where it was nice and warm but this is home.”

The tulip festival wraps up this long weekend, with some sun and some rain in the forecast.

“The tulips might close up,” says Maryse Belanger with the Canadian Tulip Festival, “but the people are still smiling.”

What would make businesses smile is a good boost of sunshine. This is a critical weekend for them a chance, they hope, to make up for money lost.