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Comment by leander78 | Hacker News Reader

I disagree. If someone gifted me flowers, I would say, stop killing plants for my pleasure.

If cutting the flowers from the plant is killing the plant, then there are going to be a lot of upset vegetarian and vegans.

Yes, the flowers that are cut are going to wither and die, but they would do this anyways if left attached to the plant. The mere cutting of the flower is not going to kill the plant.

I actually felt the same about it as GP (if perhaps not as strongly; I still buy flowers for my mom even if I wouldn't be thrilled to receive them regularly myself), but didn't yet consider it like this.

Thanks for that comment, this makes sense. They're still being grown for this purpose so it's still resources being used, but yeah it's not necessarily just ripping plants out of the ground which is how I (without thinking it through, stupidly) pictured it. I should check how it compares to other gift-type items, perhaps they're not a bad generic gift at all. (Of course a gift that someone wished for and will use for years is always better, but that's far from always possible.)

Actually, vegetarian and vegans APPROVE of killing and eating plants. It's ANIMALS that they don't want to kill and eat.

Or does PETA stand for People for the Ethical Treatment of Asparagus?

Harvesting fruits and vegetables does not mean killing the plant. The only plants that are really killed are the tuber types and other plants where the root is the food, but again, they are going to die anyways once the season changes.

You're trying really hard at something, just not sure what it is

That's even worse! Harvesting and eating fruits and vegetables means killing a plant's children. Many animals including humans will die defending their children. What makes it ok to kill baby plants? So tragic. ;)

the flowers literally die off seasonally, the only difference here is that they die looking beautiful in the home of someone you love

So do cows, eventually. :)

I would think twice before getting flowers for anybody who likes gardening. Chances are they would prefer to receive a plant.

If you're not familiar with their specific garden and the plants they like, cut flowers might be safer. Also it can be nice to have them inside and off-season as well. As the article says, "Flowers come without any obligations." That's what's so nice about them.

I am an avid gardner. I have a house full of plants, plus a front and back garden, plus a patch of veg. I enjoy gardening immensely. Although I do like getting plants as gifts, I very much still like enjoy cut flowers, and you know why?

> Flowers don’t take any effort on your part to be enjoyed. [...] Flowers come without any obligations.

Just like the article says.

Hard disagree.

For someone’s hobby or passion, they generally have quite specific taste on what they want, and it is very difficult to pick something they will actually like (unless carefully asking them, undoing part of the pleasure of a gift).

If everybody knows someone loves plants, they will often get plants as presents, and the person is likely very practised at feigning pleasure at receiving a plant they don’t need or want. An example would be a kid who knows you like tools buying you a cheap nasty screwdriver - you grin and appreciate the thought.

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