That sounds horrendous, laurie -- a sort of horticultural wild west. I'm writing an article about theft of garden plants for an American gardening magazine. I would love to interview you, or anyone else with similar experiences, who would be willing to discuss them with me. In particular, I'm curious about the black market in stolen plants. Who buys this stuff?


[quote=laurie \(Mother Mastiff\)]In Florida 15-20 years ago, it was not rare for truly special plants to be
stolen by specialty landscapers to sell for big bucks.

I had a staghorn fern that I had babied for years that took two strong men
to move (and if it was wet, they staggered under it). Obviously at least
two came to steal it. My orchid collection was stolen from under the oak
trees in my yard. Other neighbors lost rare palms, expecially cycads.

There was a big-shot, big-bucks landscaper offering finder's fees for people
who would lead them to mature clusters of Cycas Revolutas.... and all over
Mount Dora, there appeared huge, devastatingly bare holes in the yards.
Ours was stolen, but we were renting. Broke my heart anyway, it was 60 or
70 years old with pups all over it, a HUGE clump.

If your plants are beautiful and visible from the street or even to an
enterprising meter reader or delivery person (more than one back in Florida
had quite a sideline going as a spotter) they can be stolen.

You may never know where they went. If you DO find who took them, you may
have a hard time proving they are yours.

It's hard to identify a plant unless you have recent photos.

I used to write on that thin aluminum tag material the orchid breeders use,
and then bury the tag inside the root ball when transplanting, so it would
be unlikely to be found by a thief, but if the plant WAS found by someone
trying to help recover it, it could be identified unquestionably.

Really bummed, hope they turn up! Turn up the offer, or offer a reward for
info leading to the return, sometimes for a few bucks an impoverished or
broke student will cheerfully rat out another one, especially if they don't
admire larceny.

Best wishes, laurie (Mother Mastiff)