Picking wild daffodils - AIBU

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.'

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

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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

We should not pick wild flowers full stop.

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.

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.

Sorry - I meant

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

As Daisy says, it is not illegal to pick a few flowers on the whole.

They must be of a non-endangered species and not for a non-monetory purpose.

Picking a few for granny or picking parts of a plant (leaves, flower stems, fruit and seed) to cook with is therefore OK.
You mustn't remove or uproot the whole plant or leave so little that it's unlikely to survive.

I think it's the same legislation for mushrooms.

Disgraceful picking these flowers !! some people are so full of their own entitlement

This is the legislation under the Theft Act.

1. You should only pick one flower for every 20 in the patch. If there are fewer than 20, leave them alone.

2. Don't disturb wildlife in the area.

3. Pick flowers which are not privately owned or critically endangered.

4. Don't ever pick flowers in public parks, community gardens, or on National Trust property or nature reserves.

5. Never pull the wildflowers by their roots, as this will mean they will no longer return the following year. If you do pick the flowers, ensure you leave a substantial amount of the plant to allow it to continue to grow.

LauraNorderr

Worse still the selfish pillocks who dig up the snowdrop clumps for their own garden. My new neighbour has just done this. I don’t want to fall out with her so I just said that had I known she was so short of funds I’d have bought her some bulbs. She looked suitably ashamed.

Good comment LauraNorderr A red face there I suspect.

No, you are not being unreasonable. It's just another example on an ever growing list of those who don't give a stuff.

Here is what the law says about picking flowers and other wild fruit etc.

Under the1968 Theft Actand the1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, it’s illegal in the UK to:
pick, uproot or destroy any wild plant without permission from the landowner or occupier. This includes wildflowers growing in council parks and council-maintained displays on protected land, verges, roundabouts and nature reserves. It would also include flowers growing on National Trust properties. Pick flowers, fruit, foliage or mushrooms growing wild on any land for the purpose of selling them. Pick rare or endangered flowers.

Didn't know it was illegal. Great.

We lived by a public footpath in a remote part of Shropshire.
We had people in white vans come at the dead of night and pick thousands.

Worse still the selfish pillocks who dig up the snowdrop clumps for their own garden. My new neighbour has just done this. I don’t want to fall out with her so I just said that had I known she was so short of funds I’d have bought her some bulbs. She looked suitably ashamed.

There was a huge patch of snowdrops on a bank near where \I lived. I saw one lady do just this .... stop and pick some. I was furious!