Picking wild daffodils - AIBU

Sorry - I meant

They must be of a non-endangered species and for a non-monetory purpose

It is such a selfish act and bad example to others The daffodils probably belong to the highway authority if it highway verge and therefore it is theft. If you know the name and address of the perpetrator you could report . However an investigation is unlikely to get very far without this information and I imagine the local authority will have more important issues to deal with.

We don't have much to celebrate under this Tory government so please don't pick wild daffodils or anything else intended to brighten up the public realm.

We should not pick wild flowers full stop.

I think every village around here has planted at least daffodils on the verge towards the village.
One other has planted tulips that look spectacular in flower later on.
Was out on the way to the nearest town last year and was disgusted to see acar parked across the other side of the road and a woman with children were pickong great armfuls of the tulips!
I made my son pull over and went and spoke to the woman and explained that because of where they were , and the fact they had been planted for a number of years, they were classed as wild flowers and it is illegal to pick them. The woman looked gobsmacked and said she thought it was ok as she was taking them to decorate her church !
I told her that it was still illegal . She got in her car and drove off, taking the picked ones with her.
Apparently since then, the tuplips have been dug up and planted elsewhere, daffodils are in their place, along with wild flower seeds spread and fairly large signs saying illegal to pick. Don't know if it has worked yet!

I always thought it was illegal to pick flowers. I remember my grandad telling me that when I was a child. I had taken a wild primrose plant out of a field and he made me put it back.

Living in Wales there are daffodils everywhere beginning to bloom and brighten up the verges and other public places. Too often they are soon smashed to the ground by unthinking, uncaring yobs.

Just another thing that makes me sad. Who has never enjoyed a little posy of hand picked flowers from a little one in the past. But times change and I wouldn't dream of picking wild flowers now with or without the little ones. We admire them and explain that we don't pick them so everyone can enjoy them as we have. Unfortunately in our local woods huge chunks have been dug out in places its really sad and hard to explain why someone would do this.

On a similar topic, I once saw a small child gaily stomping all over a large patch of beautiful scillas in Kew Gardens. The parents were fondly watching and of course said nothing.

I still regret merely cursing the parents under my breath but failing to tell them to keep the little bugger under control.

When I was a child in the 50s we had a bluebell wood just along the lane and at weekends we’d see groups of people on bicycles peddling past with saddlebags bulging with huge bunches if bluebells already drooping and half dead. What made it worse was that they’d pulled the flowers rather than picking them so that the middle if the bulb was removed and would never grow again. My mum used to get really mad and she’d march out and have a go at them. Didn’t stop it though.

No you're not! I've seen this too and have had my own garden raided for blooms in the past! Nobody should be picking any blooms planted by local authorities anyway council tax payers pay for these!

Witzend

On a similar topic, I once saw a small child gaily stomping all over a large patch of beautiful scillas in Kew Gardens. The parents were fondly watching and of course said nothing.

I still regret merely cursing the parents under my breath but failing to tell them to keep the little bugger under control.

Oh dear I'm afraid my inner (and very very well hidden) fishwife would burst out and I would have a stern polite and extremely sarcastic word with the adults who obviously needed a lesson in acceptable behaviour. Maybe if a suitable adult were to join in with the little vandals the massive penny would drop? Worth a try if only to watch reactions?

Alioop

I always thought it was illegal to pick flowers. I remember my grandad telling me that when I was a child. I had taken a wild primrose plant out of a field and he made me put it back.

It's digging them up that's illegal.

Why don’t people leave things alone, for everyone to enjoy wild flowers are there for a purpose to be enjoyed! As others have said they are so cheap to buy in shops leave wild ones alone. My favourite flowers by the way

Like most villages we have beautiful displays of daffodils along the verges and most of them survive untouched. But in the main town it's a different story. Verges and roundabouts are stripped, window boxes pillaged, and flowers are stolen from gardens, most of them prior to Mother's Day and Easter. We have caught people picking the Poppies that grow on our driveway! I have never seen school children doing this it's always greedy, selfish adults.

We have a strip of bare ground between our front wall and the tarmacked pavement. I think it belongs to the Council but rather than leave it a mass of weeds we planted it with an assortment of shrubs and bulbs. I have challenged people who I caught picking the flowers. They always say 'They're not in your garden, so they're not yours.' I let the tyres down on a car that parked there 2 weeks running crushing plants. People seem to think if a plant is not actually in a garden it's fair game.

Last month the tarmac pavement was resurfaced. The crew knocked on the door to say they had to cut the planted area back a bit and how far could they go without damaging the plants. It was thoughtful of them to ask and they did a marvelous job and even disposed of the weeds and debris. One of the men remarked 'I bet this looks lovely in the summer,' which it does. When I pointed out I wasn't sure if we were allowed to plant it, he said 'Don't worry about it. No-one's going to complain about you looking after it.'

Plant your own! Just been out planting fifty snowdrops along the hedge on the roadside as I have so enjoyed everyone else’s this year!

I hate to see people picking them. I've just bought some in Lidl. They were 85p. I'm sure most people can afford that.

I could easily plant spring bulbs in the grass outside our front fence but I don’t because I reckon the flowers would be picked - not by the locals but by people passing through. I keep the flowers on my side of the fence.

When we moved to our current house my children asked if they could pick the daffodils in the bank opposite,I told them no as they did not belong to us. next day a hedge cutter came along and cut the lot down ! All were destroyed.
Years later we purchased the field opposite and so the bank belonged to us and I feel guilty picking the daffodils. I do only pick the fallen or broken ones but even so I feel it is a forbidden activity as I was taught not to pick wild flowers.

I consider it sacrilege, yes they only 99p in the shops, in fact the cost shouldn't even come into it, its totally and utterly wrong ...

You can pick them for personal use not to sell. However you are not supposed to pull them up by the roots. Which is why it's not allowed.

Another time my husband and I were in the garden and heard voices coming from the road (single track country lane) it was an elderly couple picking primroses from our bank. We only wants some for our friend who is in hospital they said.
We left them to it only to return later to find they had swiped the lot, the bank was bare. ?‍♀️

I have no time for children picking flowers. Imagine how sad it would be if those brilliant patches of wild daffodils in the Lakes and elsewhere were picked. My children and grandchildren know to leave them alone so everyone can see their beauty.

www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/days-out/britains-best-daffodil-walks/

To pick wild flowers such as the daffodils is illegal. J see people picking them in parks and it really annoys me.

I think it's really sad that people would pick flowers and so deprive others of the pleasure of seeing them.
But git me thinking... last year in local website someone asked where they could get wild garlic to cook with. Lots of people suggested places, including a wood nearby that has loads - the smell is amazing.
Then I remembered (in the 1960s) my mum used to go out and cut holly with berries on at Christmas time to decorate indoors!