Flower girl depleting my bush

[TeaGinandFags]

I feel that I'm being mean but I also want her to stop.

My lovely neighbour has an adorable little girl who's been picking roses off my bush for her teacher. She does this every day.

The bush is a mature Alida Lovett, so clusters of pale pink fragrant single layer flowers. It is a large plant and smells and looks bloody amazing.

While I would never bedrudge a bloom or two to others, especially a long suffering educator, I think that every day is a bit much.

YABU don't be so stingy. She's only small and her teacher deserves appreciation

YANBU once or twice is fine, but not all the time. Offer the school some cuttings instead.

So many flaws with this tale….
🥀

I think so too …

This!

I bet she tells her teacher they’re from her own garden.
You need to ask her mum to tell her to stop.

You’re not suggesting the op just cooked up an excuse to post online about her prickly bush?

That was a most excellently selected icon btw!

It reminds me of the time I went fishing as a young teen with a few horny teen boys. They kept finding they needed to ask me to “hold my rod” ; “ can you see my rod?”; “ do you think mine’s quite a large rod?” etc accompanied by much sniggering. It was awful …

PMSL at your title! Obviously tell her mum to stop her, she’s thieving.

I work in a secondary school, and a rather quirky year 7 boy started bringing in daffodils every morning and giving a little bunch to every member of staff. At first we thought he was just giving them to each of us alone, then we realised he was giving them to everyone, therefore he was coming in with armfuls of daffodils every day. When we asked him where he was getting them he said “Oh it’s fine, there’s LOADS in the park, you can just help yourself every morning!”

YABU to bring the teacher into it… many of them are no more long suffering than anyone else. There are two options here….

YABU or YANBU.

Not … YANBU unless it’s for a teacher in which case YABU

I would have a word with her parent. There is no way I would have allowed that to go on this long, there was a couple around the corner from us with the most beautiful smelling rose bushes in their garden and I asked before we smelled them, I would never dreamed of allowing the kids to pick a rose!

I thought I was the only one wondering if the OP was suffering from wedding stress induced pubic alopecia!

🤣

Exactly, @RedHelenB— the rose bush belongs to @TeaGinandFags— you said it yourself, although not in the spirit you meant to.
I doubt you’d be so agreeable to think the whole neighborhood could help themselves to anything in your yard.

My dad grew beautiful roses. Every day while they were blooming he’d choose a pretty one and take it in to my mum.

Does that “seem wrong” to you?
I always found it charming and loving.

I’m surprised with the mother. My son (4yo) really like to pick up wild flower from neighbour garden for me. And its WILD daisy flower and i said to him ‘no, dont pick up flower from other people garden’.

she needs to teach her daughter.

Not picking your own roses is mad though, my grandfather used to grow wonderful smelling roses. We loved Rose Season (as he called it) as the house always smelled amazing!

Actally she's prolly helping your rose bush to create more blooms
How to Deadhead a Rose - Advice & Inspiration (davidaustinroses.co.uk)

How would the OP know that the rose is for her teacher unless she's either overheard a conversation or been asked? My guess is that the parent/girl asked at least once or twice, OP kindly agreed, and they've just assumed that it's okay to take one every day, which is an odd thing for the parent to do.

OP, YANBU. Just happen to be outside enjoying your garden or tending the rose bush when they come by, then explain that you want to keep the rest of the roses for the bees, butterflies, neighbourhood, etc to enjoy. I'd find it a little awkward, but better a moment of awkwardness than the continued annoyance of seeing your roses snipped off every morning! The parent ought to know better, really, but some people don't understand that gardeners wait all year to enjoy a plant finally being in bloom.

Summer holidays soon. Could you maybe pot a small cutting and give it to the little girl to look after ? Then she can either give the plant to the teacher or have her own flowers to pick once it matures. Either way you can kindly explain to her that you enjoy having your lovely flowers to look at , it makes you sad when they disappear and that she needs to ask permission before doing anything similar again

She’s talking about her own roses though, not others.

My dad never allowed us to pick roses, so we don’t either.

How did you find out she was giving flowers to her teacher?

It was a thread title I couldn't ignore.

Or guardian

I’d be p’d offf at this. One maybe, but after that…

Thank you to everyone who answered. I was blown away by all the comments.

To those who asked:
the bush is on the path/garden border so easily accessible from the path. Not hard for little, or not so little, fingers to twist off some blooms. Picture attached.

Mum can't see the problem but I've been hanging round and they've stopped for the now. It was also Mum who told me what was going on but not who the teacher is. I think the message has been understood.

I am going to email the school and offer cuttings. My next door neighbours have bagsied some cuttings so hopefully more little bushes. I would recommend Alida Lovett to anyone.