No Plants Please

On a hospital ward door I found this notice:

It's a long time, thankfully, since I was in hospital, but I found all the kindly-meant flowers that I was brought a bit of a trial.

I wasn't allowed to get out of bed. More and more plants and bunches of flowers kept arriving. An Evil Sister kept coming in and remarking on them disapprovingly. They cluttered the place up. They breathed all the oxygen. Why did my visitors keep bringing them?

Because I couldn't get out of bed, I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't ask the visitors to take them away, because they were meant to cheer me up. It was all very tricky.

However, many people love being brought flowers when they're in hospital. And this Flower Ban seems to me to be another example of Health and Safety gone mad.

I expect they've installed Flower Police on the door, with Pollen Detectors in case anyone tries to smuggle in the odd bunch of daffs. All plants must be confiscated upon arrival. Any breaches of this rule and we'll pull out your relative's drip.

I think I'm the exception. For many people, a plant or flowers when in hospital are a welcome link with the outside world, as well as being enjoyable in themselves. If there's anyone with a severe allergy, then fair enough, as a temporary measure. But making a ward a permanent plant-free zone seems, to me, a bit much.