Fellow Gardeners,

My four gorgeous and much-loved Japanese Maple Trees were stolen from my
porch in Durham on Saturday. I live directly across from the NC
School of Science and Math. The trees were in pots and planters and of
various sizes, and each tree is a different variety: Brocade, Murasake
Kiyohime, Orangeaola, and Viridis.

My questions for this newsgroup are, have any of you had problems with
plant theft? Any suggestions for trying to get these plants back? I am
offering a reward of $50 for their return, no questions asked.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Melissa

On 2005-04-19, wrote:

Fellow Gardeners,

My four gorgeous and much-loved Japanese Maple Trees were stolen from my
porch in Durham on Saturday. I live directly across from the NC
School of Science and Math. The trees were in pots and planters and of
various sizes, and each tree is a different variety: Brocade, Murasake
Kiyohime, Orangeaola, and Viridis.

My questions for this newsgroup are, have any of you had problems with
plant theft? Any suggestions for trying to get these plants back? I am
offering a reward of $50 for their return, no questions asked.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Melissa


My oh my. They will steal just about anything these days. You may want
to check out all the houses in the surrounding blocks. Sounds like
something a couple drunk college kids would do and they would be dumb
enough to leave them on their front lawn. I don't think pawn shops
would take them. Who would unless some rogue landscaper had a special
order.

You may have to anchor the replacements with a chain!!! Hope you find
them.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

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)

wrote in message
. ..
On 2005-04-19, wrote:

Fellow Gardeners,

My four gorgeous and much-loved Japanese Maple Trees were stolen from my
porch in Durham on Saturday. I live directly across from the NC
School of Science and Math. The trees were in pots and planters and of
various sizes, and each tree is a different variety: Brocade, Murasake
Kiyohime, Orangeaola, and Viridis.

My questions for this newsgroup are, have any of you had problems with
plant theft? Any suggestions for trying to get these plants back? I am
offering a reward of $50 for their return, no questions asked.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Melissa


My oh my. They will steal just about anything these days. You may want
to check out all the houses in the surrounding blocks. Sounds like
something a couple drunk college kids would do and they would be dumb
enough to leave them on their front lawn. I don't think pawn shops
would take them. Who would unless some rogue landscaper had a special
order.

You may have to anchor the replacements with a chain!!! Hope you find
them.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

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)

On Wed, 18 May 2005 22:11:53 +0000, CTTom
wrote:
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?

I was thinking about this thread today, as I shopped at a local
grocery and saw all the many new bushes and small trees planted along
the parking lot. How easy to come in and unearth them. And all
the hostas at the post office, which have been there for several
years. Where are these stolen plants sold? Or are they digging them
up to give Mom on Mother's Day? It's almost as bad as stealing pets.
Kira

"Kira Dirlik" !! wrote in message
...


On Wed, 18 May 2005 22:11:53 +0000, CTTom
wrote:
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?

I was thinking about this thread today, as I shopped at a local
grocery and saw all the many new bushes and small trees planted along
the parking lot. How easy to come in and unearth them. And all
the hostas at the post office, which have been there for several
years. Where are these stolen plants sold? Or are they digging them
up to give Mom on Mother's Day? It's almost as bad as stealing pets.
Kira


My neighbors (several of them) steal for their own yards. No one seems to
do anything about it, so it continues.
Even their kids steal them now, called picking flowers for mommies. One of
them told their mum I said that I pick fingers for my dogs. I denied it,
but it has helped keep the flower and plant's from being dug up a little
bit.

Jo