Artificial flowers in gardens

I love my small garden and love flowers but saying that, I still think it’s okay to pop in a few artificial flower stems in between my other plants. It brightens things up - especially when the real flowers have died off. I try to make sure though that they are realistic and not cheap tatty plastic blooms.

So depressing to see the use of plastic when the real things are so beautiful
(MissAdventure no disrespect you ve been really ill and can’t keep a garden going so this isn’t a pop at you or anyone else who can’t)
But the use of more and more plastic is horrid and so bad for the environment These plastic door wreaths that are popping up everywhere are awful too, bad enough at Christmas now all the year round

Oh Whitewavemark2 no offence taken!
I agree they look blooming awful when they go turquoise but where I’ve got mine it won’t see any sun so hoping it stays looking good, if not I’m afraid it will be on a trip to the dump - sorry environmentalists but I’m usually very good 😁.

😊 thank you for your graciousness.

I've remembered a lady who didn't like to waste the free plastic flowers that were given out with detergent in the sixties .
I think that they were daffodils and not very subtle.. She planted them out in her garden.
They were there all year round and were bleached white by the sun.

years ago artificial flowers were awful. I think though now they have lovely ones. if chosen carefully they could pass for real ones. A lot of people do not have time or other reasons for gardening

It would save on the water bill if we have another hot summer!

No, they're hideous, as is artificial grass

I wouldn't do it as I love gardening. What I really hate is seeing them in cemeteries. Often left to fade and get dusty and grotty looking. I think a memorial like that looks so much sadder than one with nothing on.

I've got metal sunflowers, seed pods etc on stakes in my flower beds.

polomint I’m a very enthusiastic gardener and one of my pet hates is seeing artificial plants and flowers in people houses, gardens and I wouldn’t so far as to say that I wouldn’t go to a restaurant if they had non real plants and flowers on their tables, but that’s me. Olive in Small Prophets has a good point though 😂😂

If it makes someone happy why not!

Heaven help us if this is a taste of what gardens will be like in the future.
It’s bad enough now to see how many front gardens have been given over to concrete to enable owners to park their cars, although I do accept that those without drives and garages have a problem.

Plastic flowers in gardens though?
No, I hate the idea, just as I dislike artificial grass.

Well, if everyone wants to remain in their own home as they age, somethings got to give.

Plastic grass does look ugly, however well done, but people haven't always tje time or energy to spend hours every week maintaining gardens.

Ive been doing it for years, we are away 5 times a year and got no one to water them, even on a crisp autumn day my garden looks like summer, makes me feel better, take my mind of a looming cold winter ahead

poppysmum

years ago artificial flowers were awful. I think though now they have lovely ones. if chosen carefully they could pass for real ones. A lot of people do not have time or other reasons for gardening

Agreed. I remember plastic flowers when I was a child - they looked terrible, but I have two bunches of silk tulips in my hallway, and have lost count of the number of people who have asked me how I managed to them in winter.

Fake grass is bad for wildlife, but I can't see the harm in flowers. I can't say I've noticed them in people's gardens, but those display 'photo-opportunity' arches you see at the entrance to various places can look very realistic. Generally speaking, cut flowers aren't great for the environment anyway, unless they are home grown or very locally sourced.

I much prefer natural flowers and plants and would never use artificial ones indoors or outdoors. Just my opinion.

Probably most people prefer natural ones - if they didn't they wouldn't bother with fake ones - but not everyone has time or inclination to do their own gardening (or even a garden to do it in), or they may have objections to all the fertilisers, pesticides, water consumption and transport fuel involved in cut flower production. That doesn't mean they shouldn't enjoy a floral display if they want to, though. Just my opinion.

We went to our local large garden centre yesterday .It’s had lots of work done to make it bigger and better.However in the new cafe there were plastic flowers on all the tables!Disappointing!

I’ve got ‘plastic’ door wreaths - seven in all, for the seasons, etc. I’ve had them years, so they’re well used and look quite tasteful. Tried a real wreath a few years ago (a friend of DD1 was making them) but it was ridiculous heavy, had to be laid flat to water it and half the plants died. It went in the bin.

All those criticising people for having paved over gardens, or artificial plants, flowers or grass, do you refrain from criticising people with overgrown weedy gardens because they can't cope with the manual labour? I have none of the former but am heading towards the latter and I only have very small front and back gardens. The amount of water some people waste on gardens is horrifying, one neighbour has the sprinkler going daily during summer to maintain a 'nice lawn'.

MissAdventure I'm shocked I tell you, shocked.............you never got your watering can back? 😱

I have a big garden with lots of grass and trees, but can't have bedding plants because the squirrels visit the garden all day and dig the plants up to bury their nuts! I have climbing roses that the squirrels run up and down. I have pots and long containers with a 2 ft. high goldcrest conifer in the middle, trailing ivy round the front and sides, and artificial flowers in between the ivy for all year round colour - orange in autumn and winter, yellow in spring and pink in the summer. I tie individual yellow and pink artificial roses throughout the green foliage of the climbing roses which looks really realistic. The real blooms still grow amongst them, but it's windy where I live and the petals blow off after a few days of being in bloom. We have squirrels, various birds (especially seagulls), muntjac deer, foxes, pheasants and butterflies visiting. My garden is totally private so I only have myself and family to please, and we all love it. Do whatever makes you happy 😀 🌺.

My DD won’t have flowers anywhere near the house because she is terrified of insects . This includes bees, wasps and even butterflies. She won’t have artificial grass or flowers either .
However, this morning on her way home from work she took a photo of 4 large ducks sitting on the apex of the roof of our house ! Two mallards and their wives. We only live about 250 metres away from our local park with its duck pond . We occasionally see them in our garden but never on the roof before!

This thread reminded me of the plastic roses that were given away with a brand of soap powder during the 60’s…….anyone else remember?

Yes I remember my mum collecting them, did they come in Daz or Tide maybe? That's a blast from the past, it still surprises me every time we're in Canada and see Tide detergent. No plastic flower giveaways now though 😀