It is feared Fife’s tourism economy could suffer due to budgets being slashed for flower planting.
Colourful floral displays, which help boost the region’s appeal to visitors, could wither away due to the swingeing spending cuts.
Savings agreed by Fife Council include a reduction of £470,000 in the budget for high-amenity planting over the next three years.
It is proposed the council either stops or reduces planting and bedding in spots such as roundabouts, parks and gateways and in hanging baskets and floral displays, and that established areas be turned over to grass.
The council’s own documents predict this will be visually harmful and that parks such as Dunfermline’s Pittencrieff Park, Ravenscraig and Beveridge parks, in Kirkcaldy, and Letham Glen in Leven, could lose prized green flags.
They also warned that hard-working community groups could lose out on awards in campaigns such as Beautiful Scotland and community pride could be lost.
A leading horticultural volunteer, who wished to remain anonymous, warned that towns and villages that rely on tourism could suffer and bloom group membership dwindle.
She said: “It’s easy to say the pretty flowers cost too much money, but the pretty flowers bring money into the economy of Fife.”
Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy councillor George Kay fears the council could face a backlash similar to when it announced libraries were to close.
He said: “I very much hope this not going to be another ‘libraries’ coming up and that our proposals are not simply to cut.
“Towns like Burntisland and Kinghorn and others across Fife rely on attracting visitors.”
Damien Woods, parks, streets and open spaces service manager, said: “We have to make savings somewhere and reducing planting is something that members of the public often suggest.
“Before this decision was taken as part of the budget setting for 2016-17 we had already ordered bedding plants from the nursery we work with, so there’ll be plenty of flowers around for a while yet.
“However, the budget reduction will affect parks, roundabouts and hanging baskets throughout Fife in the year ahead.
“Of course we still want Fife to be an attractive place to live and visit and we will grass over some of our bedding areas so that they cost less to maintain.
“We value the work that many volunteers do in our towns and villages to make them so welcoming.
“Our area committees will still be able to use local community planning budgets at their discretion to support priority projects in their part of Fife.”