do you pick flowers, wild or otherwise?

[slartybartfast]

when dd walks home her friend always picks wild flowers but i dont allow dd.
anyone read the paper/hear this story today.

or has this been covered earlier

onceuponawine, it isn't illegal, though. Only endangered species. The trouble is that if there's no culture of picking flowers, children don't get to learn which the endangered species are.

From the Wild Flower Society's code of conduct:

"...Picking with care and in moderation usually does little damage and can foster the appreciation of wild plants, which in turn benefits their conservation. However, in some cases picking can be harmful and it may even be illegal."

www.thewildflowersociety.com/wfs_new_pages/1f_code_of_conduct.htm

Vesela, how are there going to be more wildflowers about, if your DC are picking them all before they have a chance to spread?

When I was a kid I only picked flowers in Kew Gardens, the reason being anywhere else they would have been pissed on by dogs, the thought of picking Daisies from common or dog filled park land is disgusting.

Patient, doesn't it depend on how the particular species spreads? A species that spreads through root shoots is not going to have its chances of spreading ruined by a little gentle picking.

That's true, but it still means that there aren't any left for people to enjoy in situ, if everyone who passes indulges in a little gentle picking.

When I said "carefully," I also meant exercising that sort of judgment - i.e. not picking flowers in a place where there are only a few of them, and a lot of people passing. I'm bemused by the idea that it's always wrong to pick wild flowers, though.

That depends on the situation though, Patient. Where I grew up there were plenty of wildflowers, small stable community, same people picked the same amount every year (mainly children to take home to their mothers), and everyone knew what they were picking and noone would ever take the last flowers in any one spot. They were just unspoken rules. In the same way as you wouldn't pick all the berries on a bush but leave some for the birds.

Personally I can't understand the desire to pick flowers -just don't get that thought process of seeing a beautiful living thing growing in the wild and feeling the urge to pull bits off it and take them home to rot and die. Take a photograph if you want something more than the memory to take home with you. I never pick flowers and would never allow or encourage a child to either.

I don't see why teaching children which species are endangered/rare etc is dependent on allowing them to pick other flowers

It is not dependent on it, epiphany, but in some countries bringing home the first of the year's coltsfoot or anemones is very much part of the local culture, something that has been going on for centuries, and if sensitively done it does no more harm to the plant population than, say, mowing the lawn (how can you see a beatiful field of grass waving in your garden and want to cut it down?).

It is well recognised that in some countries encouraging a gentle harvesting of nature can be good for the environment: native tribes react more quickly to damage to their environment if they are actually using it for something. Forbid them to harvest nature and they lose that connection.

Where I grew up, children knew every spot of the local area in a way British children don't seem to; they checked up on the same spots in the wood at the same time every year. They cared. And they noticed if anything went wrong. And they grew into adults that cared about the environment. Sweden has had very strong environmental protection for years before the UK thought of such things, and I think part of it is because most people, even the ones that have no interest in natural history, have fond memories of their childhood roaming the woods; they genuinely believe this is something that human beings need.

Not to say I think it would work in this country: I don't. Too many people and too much loss of tradition.

I am far too lazy to mow lawns so have a lovely weedy wildflower lawn which does it's own thing :). I do pull up weeds from the flower bed and prune bushes so I see what you mean, though after all it is my own garden!

It's interesting to hear about Sweden, that obviously is a very different culture from ours in the UK. So maybe it's too strong to say that picking wild flowers is always wrong everywhere, but unfortunately I think you're right that it's different in the UK. So here at least I'd favour keeping it simple and just telling children not to pick flowers.

Ephiny, but it's part of the culture in the UK as well. I grew up in the north of England in a situation that sounds very similar to cory's. People have picked wild flowers in the UK for ages - for presents, necklaces etc. etc. Last year when we were out for a walk I made a little crown out of plaited reeds for DD and put coltsfoots in it... totally normal.

(Has anyone told Little Grey Rabbit how naughty she was?)

I agree with all cory's points except that I don't think there are too many people in the UK for it to make a difference. The fact they drive too much may make a difference, though.

i used to pass a load of daffodils on my way to and from work last year when i was working and i always thought about stopping to pick some but never did. - never thought it was illegal