to get pissed off when parents let their kids pick flowers?

[fuzzypicklehead]

A mum I know posted a photo of her DC (aged 6) clutching a big bunch of daffodils, captioned "look what DC picked for me at the park! Isn't that sweet?" Sure it's great that he wanted to give his mum flowers, but pulling them out of a public flower bed?

Similar situation with another child when leaving the school grounds just before Easter--she asked her mum if she could pick a daffodil and was told yes. Cue my kids in a sulk the whole way home because I wouldn't let them pluck flowers too.

AIBU to think that flowers in public places are for everyone to enjoy and not for a few selfish people to nab for themselves? Perhaps your child is only picking a few, but if every child who walks by grabs a couple of flowers then they'll be finished by the end of the day. If you want fresh flowers , go and buy them. If your kids want to pull them up, then grow your own bastard flowers so your kids can pull their bloody heads off. Or maybe just tell your PFB "no, you can't pick those flowers because they don't belong to you."

It's been a long day. Need

I discourage DS from picking Daisies too. They look a lot prettier growing in the grass than wilting in my hand and it saves me ending up with a pocket full of the bloody things too :)

MsBella, if you don't know whether the flowers are wild or not, don't pick them, simple!

To give another example of why picking flowers is wrong, I know that the native English Bluebell is in decline, and if people keep picking them we'll soon have none left.

But most people can't distiguish between the English Bluebell and the Spanish Bluebell and pick indiscriminately. (The English Bluebell is much prettier IMO.)

There are also some rare wild flowers it is illegal to pick, and again, most people can't tell what they are picking.

So, if in doubt, don't bother picking and that ay we can all enjoy them. If you want cut flowers, buy them!

I agree with you, I would never allow my children to pick flowers from public places/people's front gardens etc. When they were really little they would try to but I would tell them it wasn't allowed. When the daffodils spring up in my local park, I see not only children but adults picking huge bunches of them!!!!

I'm glad I'm not just being a po-faced cow. But it sounds like there are plenty of people out there, happily parenting flower-picky fuckers.

yabu,all of you,get a fucking grip.

What a helpful addition to the thread that was AmberSocks. Thanks.

YANBU flowers should be left for everyone, if I remember rightly, from flower picking in fields as a teen (where they are commercially grown) the sap from daffodils contains fibres rather like fibreglass and causes a nasty rash and itching on the skin, a good reason to tell people not to pick them maybe?

Also, if you put daffs in a vase with other flowers they are toxic to them, the bulbs are also highly poisonous so I expect the flowers are too, best to leave them alone really. :)

And the prize for the most pointless post on this thread goes to Amber.

That BBC article you linked to fuzzypickle is hilarious.

Sad faced child and everything - "Two little girls with very small hands". The mother clearly believed her fond indulgence of her children should be mirrored by everyone else .

YANBU. My DH once caught someone picking daffs from OUR DRIVEWAY!!

They said "oh, do you mind, they're so pretty, I just want a few"!!!

Well yes we did mind, no it was not ok and if they really thought we wouldn't mind, wouldn't you knock on the door first and ask?!

Would never pick public flowers either as they are there for everyone to enjoy.

how is it pointless,she asked if she was being u,i told her i think she is.

It would annoy me as well.

There's a line in paddington at the palace about not picking flowers as they are for everyone. Get it and leave it on her doorstep.

YANBU OP it drives me mad too. Selfish, self-entitled wanky behaviour. YY to pigeon scaring too, hate it!

It is awfully selfish. Those random ones you see in park? They will have been planted by someone, quite probably a volunteer who is trying to make the place look lovely for everyone. Picking a daffodil wont make another flower appear. If you can't see more flower buds then its done flowering for the year.

I had an almighty ding dong with a woman and her husband last year after seeing her smiling indulgently as her little darlings picked the roses from the beds in the local park. I couldn't keep my mouth shut

My SIL picked a bunch of flowers from the rented (not by him!) holiday cottage garden. I was but he thinks I am barking, not him.

My DC are well aware they are not allowed to pick flowers from anywhere except ours or relatives gardens (exceptions granted also when a kindly neighbour gives permission for flowers to be picked from her garden). We have to walk past a park on our way to and from school every day and DS frequently likes to stop and look at the daffodils. He got quite upset at seeing some that had been trampled by (presumably) a dog and was concerned about them dying. Noticing that a couple had detached from their roots and were laying on the ground, I allowed him to reach through the fence and grab one to bring home and put in some water.

I live near an historic building that is also a museum that obviously gets lots of visitors. There are signs everywhere saying that particular parts of the gardens are conservation areas and to keep of the grass and not pick the, often rare flowers.

Last summer while walking the dog I was passed a woman and two children, aged about 9 and 11. One of the girls, declaring how pretty the flowers were leaned forward over the waist high fence and picked one. I was pretty amazed tbh as we were standing right by a sign. When I told them not to pick the flowers, the woman's excuse was 'Oh we didn't know, we're not from here, we're from Australia'.

The pigeon thing also annoys me.

"the woman's excuse was 'Oh we didn't know, we're not from here, we're from Australia'. "

You must have been tempted to mention something about thieving convicts surely?!

Oh damn, you're right Dominodonkey, wish I'd thought of that.

I'll just have to hang around there this year and hope I see them again..

Agreeing with the poster who mentioned it was actually illegal to pick wildflowers.
It is in the Countryside and Wildlife act.

i spain and italy,where me and dh are originally from,you just dont get this,kids are allowed to pick flowers,you even walk past peoples houses and they stop ad give them to them,gardeners in public places stop and give my children flowers all the time(in spain) not just my kids either its a normal thing.

I am guessing english people are just miserable,or england is just a very dreary grim place.or both.and its not child friendly here either.

I think you have a longer flowering season in Spain than we do in Northern Europe. Here it is quite brief and the flowers we have, we like to see growing not picked by a child whose parents are lax and indulgent.