A florist has hit out at a “ludicrous” online furore after she was criticised for selling brambles at her shop.
Patricia Newmark, the owner of The Fitzroy’s Flowers Collection in Regent’s Park Road, Primrose Hill, told Ham & High there is “no comparison” between her £9.95 brambles and those that grow in a hedgerow.
Her comments come after a visitor to London from Warwickshire told the Evening Standard she “couldn’t believe” how much the florist was selling the brambles for.
The tourist, Gayle Selby-Bradley, said: “We know a lot of people outside London constantly battling with bramble bushes in their gardens and I can't imagine they'd be persuaded to pay £9.95 for a bunch of them.”
After she shared a picture of the brambles outside Fitzroy’s on Facebook, others agreed in comments below the post.
One person described it as "peak London". Another said: “Absolutely nothing explains that price when blackberries literally grow wild all over the UK.”
But Ms Newmark has hit back at her critics, saying: “I honestly can’t understand people anymore.
“You go into the countryside and into your garden and you can pick a free blackberry off of your bush or hedge.
“But what about when you go to the supermarket and there are blackberries in a punnet and you pay for them and you buy them? I mean it’s no different, it’s actually ludicrous.”
She added that the bramble bunches, intended for use in displays, have been received positively by other customers.
Ms Newmark said: “These that we buy, the ornamental ones, are on a 20-25cm stem. You get a straightish stem with the blackberries at the top.
“They’re nothing like blackberries that grow in a hedgerow. There’s no comparison.”
The florist told Ham and High that the pricing reflected the fact that they are specialised, greenhouse-grown brambles.
She said: “The growers charge the wholesaler for them and the wholesaler charges me for them and I charge the customer for them.
“You could pick daffodils in the spring in the forest, but I buy them. I have to pay for them and then we sell them and then we charge. It is called business.”
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