Artificial flowers - yay or nay?

While I agree that fake flowers/plants have improved over the years, there's just no getting around the fact that no matter how good they look you can always tell they are fake. And if per chance you missed that fact the first time around, the second time you see them in exactly the same place looking exactly the same, several weeks later - then it's obvious.
I love flowers out in nature, not a fan of cut flowers, therefore a bunch of fake, 'cut' flowers in a vase with fake water in it is not appealing at all.
I'd rather have a live plant of some sort than anything fake. But since the various cats over the years have destroyed all the live plants, I only have one left (a small one on a shelf she can't get to). I'd rather do without than have fake and I still can't quite get over the feeling they are cheap (even though I know some of them aren't) and a bit nana.

A house near us used to be the artificial plant graveyard. It was an older woman's house and she was always adding stuff. Every plant but the grass was fake. She even had about 15 bent up old artificial Christmas trees "planted" in the yard. It was sad because you knew she was as trying so hard, but it looked like a disaster. (Add in a ton of religious statues and birdhouses etc to get a more accurate mental picture) It was odd to drive by in winter and see all of these plastic flowers blooming in the snow. I don't care for artificial plants because I am reminded of her, but agree that they have come a looong way in recent years.

No, never would. I don't see the point of them. Personally, I'd rather have a different ornament than a fake plant or flower. Plus, no matter how realistic they look, silk flowers always remind me of the dusty things you used to see in the doctor/dentist waiting room back in the 80s

I don't have any artificial plants. I do have an artificial Christmas Tree.

We have only one live plant due to lack of table and counter space and the fact that I do not nurture plants very well.

I would consider an artificial centerpiece for my dining room table if I saw an amazing one.

I used to, but the dust factor led to me throwing them away. I will buy those that look very fake (like burlap) and use them for party centerpieces. I have seen some arrangements with decorator's stems that are incredibly gorgeous, but they are way out of my price range.

I still have some outdoor wreaths with fake flowers (or faux botanicals, as Pottery Barn likes to call them) that I use, but I am slowly getting rid of them. They get grungy and gross after a few seasons of use.

I have ones similar to these hot pink ones:

Fake pink flowers

I love these new "modern" fake flowers - its obvious they're fake, they're more just accent pieces, but they are so pretty and cheerful you can't help but smile. I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking they're real, they're just nice to look at and brighten up the place.

The blue ones here are another good example:

blue fake flowers