I often see kids being encourage to pick the “pretty flowers” that they then throw away 10 minutes later..... encourage then to draw them, take a photo or count how many in the field - lots of things you can do without picking them.
Just read that the bulb-fields in Holland are having huge problems with people trampling into the fields and lying down on the flowers to take selfies. How stupid is that!
People complain that kids are glued to electronic devices or don't have a connection with nature. Well I think picking wild flowers is a part of encouraging that connection. Im sure most of us did it as kids, and here we all are on a gardening forum, where many of us devote a large part of our time and gardens to nature.
Ive always let my kids pick them, but with a little bit of guidance as to when they shouldn't. If they pick some cow parsley or blackberries whilst we walk the dog, that is fine, if there is something less common like a little patch of cowslips, or an orchid on the common, then I'll point it out, tell them a bit about it and advise them its best to leave it alone so it can set seed, or feed the finches etc.
They're 6 and 8 now, and both absolutely fascinated with wildlife and plants. They chide me if I bin rather than recycle something, and they can both identify dozens of unusualk plants and insects, and Im in no doubt they will give back more benefit than the few flowers that didn't seed or produce berries as they become adults, interact with the world and eventually, hopefully get their own gardens.
I completely understand the premise of not picking wild flowers, and as an adult I don't and wouldnt, but I think anything that gets kids engaged with the environment, and isn't doing any real harm in the wider scheme of things is to be encouraged.
People complain that kids are glued to electronic devices or don't have a connection with nature. Well I think picking wild flowers is a part of encouraging that connection. Im sure most of us did it as kids, and here we all are on a gardening forum, where many of us devote a large part of our time and gardens to nature.
Ive always let my kids pick them, but with a little bit of guidance as to when they shouldn't. If they pick some cow parsley or blackberries whilst we walk the dog, that is fine, if there is something less common like a little patch of cowslips, or an orchid on the common, then I'll point it out, tell them a bit about it and advise them its best to leave it alone so it can set seed, or feed the finches etc.
They're 6 and 8 now, and both absolutely fascinated with wildlife and plants. They chide me if I bin rather than recycle something, and they can both identify dozens of unusualk plants and insects, and Im in no doubt they will give back more benefit than the few flowers that didn't seed or produce berries as they become adults, interact with the world and eventually, hopefully get their own gardens.
I completely understand the premise of not picking wild flowers, and as an adult I don't and wouldnt, but I think anything that gets kids engaged with the environment, and isn't doing any real harm in the wider scheme of things is to be encouraged.
Totally agree with the above ... it’s the way we were brought up ... picking small bunches of the common flowers for our mums and teachers and leaving the more uncommon ones alone ... and that way we learned the difference.
Im totally dumbfounded by the number of folk I come across who’ve grown up in the UK and yet who can’t identify the most common of native plants/flowers. How do we stand a chance of engaging them in safeguarding our natural environment if they have no idea of its range and beauty and what conditions different plants need. Some children know more about extinct dinosaurs than they do about the plants on their doorsteps.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Why would selling elderflower cordial be illegal? I only ever make a small amount for myself, but a local farm produces it commercially. As for wine, it would be illegal to sell that without a licence, but you need quite a lot of elderflowers to make a gallon of wine (I think about 30 heads), so most people will only be making it for their own consumption. I don't think harvesting the blossom is likely to affect the vigorous hedges of elder around here.
I did notice that an elder hedge alongside woodland had been chopped down, and someone said it was to protect the ash trees from ash dieback, because the elder could spread it somehow, but I have no idea if that's correct. (I only know that a good source of elder flowers and berries has gone!)
Selling the cordial isn't the issue. It is illegal to pick wild flowers for commercial gain. Your local farm probably produces it from trees on their own land, which is perfectly legitimate. You picking some to make cordial for yourself is also allowed. A very well known brand used to ask people to raid the local hedgerows on their behalf and bring the flowers to their factory, which emphatically is not OK.
It's just a matter of quantity rather than principle. If people are allowed to pick elderberries to sell either as berries or as jam or liqueur, the risk is that too many people will do it and the trees and wildlife will suffer. A few people picking enough to make a bottle of elderberry vodka for Christmas is unlikely to be a major concern to either.
My OH frequently asks me what this or that flower is and when I know is always baffled how I know. I assume my Mum - or possibly my aunt - taught me but it must have been when I was very young, because I don't remember it.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
We used to go on nature walks with our little village primary school ... the first flower I remember being shown was a figwort. I remember finding a bed orchid in the school meadow and showing the teacher and being told what it was. I was only five 😊
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@Dovefromabove My primary school was in the middle of a council estate so we'd have had to walk quite a long way to find a flower other than a daisy in the playing field My aunt used to carry a tape recorder with her when she took us for walks. I heard one of her tapes not that long ago with a 4 or 5 year old me prattling away (talkative child) and picking up on words she said that I liked - repeating them a few times to get the 'feel' of them. But at one point she does say "what's that flower?" to me and I solemnly announced it was a scarlet pimpernel, so that may be how I learned them all.
She was a lovely lady. Died from contaminated blood after surgery. Makes me very sad hearing it all being gone over on the news at the moment. I doubt she's in the statistics - I suspect there were very many people who were affected but just shuffled out of sight by their GPs, as happened to her.
Sorry - a bit off topic
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Posts
Just read that the bulb-fields in Holland are having huge problems with people trampling into the fields and lying down on the flowers to take selfies. How stupid is that!
Ive always let my kids pick them, but with a little bit of guidance as to when they shouldn't. If they pick some cow parsley or blackberries whilst we walk the dog, that is fine, if there is something less common like a little patch of cowslips, or an orchid on the common, then I'll point it out, tell them a bit about it and advise them its best to leave it alone so it can set seed, or feed the finches etc.
They're 6 and 8 now, and both absolutely fascinated with wildlife and plants. They chide me if I bin rather than recycle something, and they can both identify dozens of unusualk plants and insects, and Im in no doubt they will give back more benefit than the few flowers that didn't seed or produce berries as they become adults, interact with the world and eventually, hopefully get their own gardens.
I completely understand the premise of not picking wild flowers, and as an adult I don't and wouldnt, but I think anything that gets kids engaged with the environment, and isn't doing any real harm in the wider scheme of things is to be encouraged.
Im totally dumbfounded by the number of folk I come across who’ve grown up in the UK and yet who can’t identify the most common of native plants/flowers. How do we stand a chance of engaging them in safeguarding our natural environment if they have no idea of its range and beauty and what conditions different plants need.
Some children know more about extinct dinosaurs than they do about the plants on their doorsteps.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I did notice that an elder hedge alongside woodland had been chopped down, and someone said it was to protect the ash trees from ash dieback, because the elder could spread it somehow, but I have no idea if that's correct. (I only know that a good source of elder flowers and berries has gone!)
It's just a matter of quantity rather than principle. If people are allowed to pick elderberries to sell either as berries or as jam or liqueur, the risk is that too many people will do it and the trees and wildlife will suffer. A few people picking enough to make a bottle of elderberry vodka for Christmas is unlikely to be a major concern to either.
My OH frequently asks me what this or that flower is and when I know is always baffled how I know. I assume my Mum - or possibly my aunt - taught me but it must have been when I was very young, because I don't remember it.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My aunt used to carry a tape recorder with her when she took us for walks. I heard one of her tapes not that long ago with a 4 or 5 year old me prattling away (talkative child) and picking up on words she said that I liked - repeating them a few times to get the 'feel' of them. But at one point she does say "what's that flower?" to me and I solemnly announced it was a scarlet pimpernel, so that may be how I learned them all.
She was a lovely lady. Died from contaminated blood after surgery. Makes me very sad hearing it all being gone over on the news at the moment. I doubt she's in the statistics - I suspect there were very many people who were affected but just shuffled out of sight by their GPs, as happened to her.
Sorry - a bit off topic
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.