Here is a public display of flowers, located at the trolley stop near Main and Peabody Place:
… and here’s a bum who has picked one of those flowers and is trying to sell it on the street for money. We watched him do this all day yesterday. He’d pick a couple of flowers from public planters, sell them, and then come back to pick more.
And here’s another bum who has also been to the same flower planter:
I bet I saw the “flower man” gimmick being applied at least 30 times last weekend. It’s a wonder there are any flowers left Downtown.
There are flower vendors on Beale who have permits to be there, but they don’t acquire their flowers by picking them from public displays. They also have vendor permits – a standard panhandling permit does not entitle the bearer to sell stuff on public streets.