You may recall NT have a dig at picking daffs in the park after a couple of kids did just that and the Rozzers blitzed them in an operation akin to busting a gang of jewel thieves. The mighty Plod informed their parents that they could be arrested for criminal damage (full story here*)... The Guardian thoughtfully gives you in the ins and outs of DIY flower picking:
Cultivated flowers Flowers growing in council parks are legally off-limits; the same goes for council-maintained displays on roundabouts or verges, any gardens planted by a particular organisation (ie community gardens), and nature reserves or protected land. And if you persistently snaffle daffodils from your neighbour's front garden, you could face prosecution for theft, as well as the sharp end of their tongue.
Wild flowers According to the wild plant protection charity Plantlife, "it is not normally an offence to pick the 'Four Fs' – fruit, foliage, fungi or flowers – if the plants are growing wild and it is for your personal use and not for sale." Dozens of rare or endangered plants – from the lady's slipper orchid and adder's tongue, to threadmoss and sandwort – are, however, protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, so pick those and you could face arrest (though you're unlikely to stumble across too many of them). Whatever you do, don't drag up the whole plant to resettle it in your own garden – the law firmly forbids the uprooting of any wild plant.
*The Filth rushed a pair of officers in a marked car to a park after two young sisters were spotted picking daffodils, after a member of the public reported them. Two Dibble attended and advised the mother, that they could be arrested for criminal damage. 'Nuff said.
Cultivated flowers Flowers growing in council parks are legally off-limits; the same goes for council-maintained displays on roundabouts or verges, any gardens planted by a particular organisation (ie community gardens), and nature reserves or protected land. And if you persistently snaffle daffodils from your neighbour's front garden, you could face prosecution for theft, as well as the sharp end of their tongue.
Wild flowers According to the wild plant protection charity Plantlife, "it is not normally an offence to pick the 'Four Fs' – fruit, foliage, fungi or flowers – if the plants are growing wild and it is for your personal use and not for sale." Dozens of rare or endangered plants – from the lady's slipper orchid and adder's tongue, to threadmoss and sandwort – are, however, protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, so pick those and you could face arrest (though you're unlikely to stumble across too many of them). Whatever you do, don't drag up the whole plant to resettle it in your own garden – the law firmly forbids the uprooting of any wild plant.
*The Filth rushed a pair of officers in a marked car to a park after two young sisters were spotted picking daffodils, after a member of the public reported them. Two Dibble attended and advised the mother, that they could be arrested for criminal damage. 'Nuff said.
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