What's this world coming to?

15 years ago

I remember hearing this had happened to several other people, and even in Hawaii, but I had to share my frustration with people who would understand.

I'm a junior high teacher, and the gardening club at my school had asked teachers to bring in plants to help beautify the school. They would take them and plant them and take care of them. I brought in a plumeria plant (yellow and white I think, it had never bloomed) and they planted it in an open part of the garden area near where we come in every day from the teachers' parking lot. So it wasn't like I never saw it...I saw it every day when I came in and when I left.

That was two years ago...it had since grown over a foot, and gotten much thicker. I'd pulled off dead leaves, made sure it wasn't watered too much or not enough, etc. It was finally about to bloom this coming year, I could see an inflo juuuuuuust starting. I was pretty amped.

Just after I got back from Winter Break (AKA Christmas Vacation for the not-so-young) I noticed the plant gone, and a small hole left where it had been. I asked around, maybe someone had moved it to a sunnier location, away from the roses, I didn't know, I just couldn't get any answers from anyone. I think someone stole the plant!

What is this world coming to where an innocent plumeria plant isn't safe from those would take what isn't theirs? *sigh* I'm thinking of putting another one there with a stake in the ground and a sign attached saying "THOU SHALT NOT STEAL"...what do you think?

Thanks for listening to my rant,

Mark

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Comments (20)

Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
15 years ago
Bummer Mark,

I'd replant in Spring -- add your sign. Then if that one goes away, replant again. But this time try staking and ropes.

I keep my large potted sago in front of my house most of the year, but I stake it down with bungees to make sure someone doesn't just carry it away. Of course it weighs about 200 lbs and that helps!
kbauman
15 years ago
Hi Mark,
That is just absolutely terrible, the worst.. People are just crooks, do not seem to realize how precious and important that plant was.. Yes, do as Dave suggests..put your signs up, ropes, hope will work.. so soory this happned..makes me angry.
Karen B
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I haven't been here on GW forever ... saw this and thought that my perspective may be of interest, since I ran my own boutique rose/OGR nursery for five years. I started growing roses years ago, when introduced to OGRs by a friend. Quickly found that the ones I were most attracted to were ones that were not available on site anywhere in our area except at one small nursery, Sherando Roses, about 2 hours from here ... shopped there at least twice a year and my love of roses was fueled by my conversations with Randy, the owner. He was generous with his experience and I valued his opinions, which helped shape my gardens in those early years. When Randy retired and Sherando closed, friends and I were lamenting the loss of the one place where we could gather to enjoy, discuss, and buy our roses. (We were ordering online from the nurseries we all know, but nothing compared to the experience of getting our roses in person.) It was then that I decided to turn my garden and my love of OGRs into a nursery, to try to pass along and nurture the fire that Randy lit in me and in so many others. The reality of the rose business hit me pretty hard shortly after I opened. To put it bluntly, the average gardener does not want an old garden rose, especially one that gets big (and many people think that 'big' is anything over 4' tall), blooms only once per season (see ya, all those beautiful Gallicas, Ramblers, Albas, and so many others that are gorgeous in my hot, humid central Virginia garden) When the roses in the garden were in bloom, it was easier to introduce customers to ones that they were unfamiliar and convince them to try something that they had never heard of before. I fondly remember the year that I sold out of 'The Bishop', a wonderful Hybrid China, in one day because it was blooming and the color and fragrance and form are superb. All of the people who bought it that day left here with a new appreciation for a once-blooming rose. This is not what usually happens. For the most part, I had lots of people coming to look for New Dawn, Buff Beauty, various exhibition-style Hybrid Tea roses that I don't grow, anything by David Austin (because they knew that he produced the English roses), and anything orange, red, or yellow. When I opened my 'doors' that first year, I had what most of us here would consider a balanced assortment of a variety of good roses from most of the OGR classes. The popular ones that people had heard of sold quickly, the unfamiliar ones languished. (By popular, I mean roses with familiar names ... not necessarily roses that people knew in person.) During the years that followed, I propagated fewer roses that I knew would be challenging to sell that season, in favor of having more stock of the popular ones on hand. I convinced myself that I could do this (in conflict with my original mission to preserve and to distribute rare and worthy roses), because the meager $$ from the sale of the popular ones allowed me to buy more rare roses to add to my own gardens. This small positive aspect of the way my business was growing wasn't enough in the long run to keep me going. In 2012, I closed the retail portion of my nursery, and donated the remaining 80 roses in inventory to Stephen Scanniello's projects in NY. Stephen's Subaru that day was full of wonderful roses that most of us here know and love. I was happy to see them go to such a worthy project, but sad that I had failed to convince the public that old roses were something that they should get to know better. A general retail nursery, whether it is a brick-and-mortar store in your examples or a mail-order business, has to cater to its customers in order to survive. The average nursery customer does not go there to buy roses, and the average nursery owner/employee does not know how to choose or care for roses. (Speaking of care, there are many different levels of care that gardeners are willing to subscribe to in their rose gardens. Me? I have no problem spraying fungicide on my rare blackspot-prone roses that need it. That's what it takes to grow these here, and I know this and accept it. Other roses, like my ramblers, teas, most of the Chinas and Polyanthas, don't need fungicide and they don't get it. No type of Insecticide is used in my gardens.) This is a long-winded way to say that it is best to put ourselves in someone else's place before we criticize. Roses are a tough item to sell in the best of times at most nurseries ... even nurseries that specialize in them have a difficult time developing their customer base and logging enough sales to keep afloat. I hope I haven't offended anyone. Connie
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wolflady11
15 years ago
I am originally from Naples, FL, now living in Ocala, FL. Last year a woman in Naples had a large amount of Plumerias dug up from her back yard while she was away. Many were rare plants...can you imagine somebody comming in your yard and DIGGING THEM UP. I have 4 dogs and 11 wolves...nobody comes on my property.
kbauman
15 years ago
Hi,
You have 11 wolves on your property? wow. Do you raise them or are they wild? curious
Karen B
meyermike_1micha
15 years ago
I feel horrrible for Mark....Crap...
I lost a baby the other day and didn't have all that time to be attached to it as you had with yours, and it stilled killed me to loose it.
I would say the world is
I am so sorry for you!!
Maybe bad karma will follow people like that if it was stolen....Jerk or anyother person who has no reagrds for other peoples feeling!, who ever it was.
Sorry Mark....:-(
Mike
mrpearson253
Original Author
15 years ago
I mean, I probably shouldn't be whining, it was only one plant, but it was just the fact that I had worked with it, nursed it, watched it grow, and then someone swiped it right out from under me.

I have quite a few plants in the ground in my yard, now I'm a little worried about THEM disappearing overnight while I'm asleep! My wife chided me about my "stick garden" now that the leaves have mostly fallen off for the winter, so I had to laugh. Gotta find the bright side in things, right? I've got plenty of plants in pots on the patio that can replace the stolen one in the Spring, and I will use stakes and ropes and my sign to (hopefully) deter any future thieves. Thanks for all your responses...I feel a little better now. :)

Mark

P.S.-Wolflady...maybe I need to borrow a couple of your wolves to guard my property? We've got a couple of noisy beagles that serve as a good intruder alarm but the wolves would definitely be more intimidating!
kbauman
15 years ago
Hi Mark,
I appreciate your concern. I too would be devistated. I do not put any of my plumeria out front of my house. Would love too, but do not want to show I have these great and expensive plants. I keep them in the back yard to enjoy..my squirrels protect and bop them..(no wolves, just possoms. ha ) No dis-respect to the lady who has wolves.

I go by occasionally to a neighbor not far from me.. Has a probably 8' wide celadine in a huge ceramic pot, with lights on it.. Its a really beautiful double heavy one.. amazed it has not be bothered. there have been plants stolen in my area..its sick. Those who steal, may they fall down and break their leg or what is close.
Karen B.
kbauman
15 years ago
Hi Mark,
I appreciate your concern. I too would be devistated. I do not put any of my plumeria out front of my house. Would love too, but do not want to show I have these great and expensive plants. I keep them in the back yard to enjoy..my squirrels protect and bop them..(no wolves, just possoms. ha ) No dis-respect to the lady who has wolves.

I go by occasionally to a neighbor not far from me.. Has a probably 8' wide celadine in a huge ceramic pot, with lights on it.. Its a really beautiful double heavy one.. amazed it has not be bothered. there have been plants stolen in my area..its sick. Those who steal, may they fall down and break their leg
Karen B.
trojanfan53
15 years ago
Mark, see the thread "found an awesome plumie" sounds strangely smiler to yours. Tie a steak around his neck and let the wolves have an awesome time!
mrpearson253
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks trojanfan53, I asked him/her where in SoCal they found the plumie, we'll see what they say. That DOES sound more than a little familiar though. :(

Mark
kimisdad
15 years ago
Mark And Dave,

I think that is labeled theft or stealing or against the law?? Where in "zone 8" are plumeria growing in the ground ??? sounds suspect to me lol.

Jack
mrpearson253
Original Author
15 years ago
Jack,

I think you're right about all three things! And you would know about "zone 8" plumeria growing in the ground, if anyone would!

Mark
wolflady11
15 years ago
Yes, 11 wolves and 4 dogs. Wolves are in a 1 acre pen but if anyone even comes near our front gate they get pretty agressive. Enough to scare anyone away. I have a Beagle, a Basset, a Black Lab and a Bagle (cross between a Beagle and a Basset). All are very good watch dogs. Would eat anyone that comes on our property. Nobody comes in our front gate without calling on the buzzer at the gate.
pepperonihead
15 years ago
this kind of stuff just irks me to no end. I was not brought up that way and I really think that some of the parents now days do not teach their children the basic values that I was taught when I was growing up in the 60s (respect your elders, don't steal, etc). When I lived in my house in Long Beach 7 years ago I could not even leave a garden hose in my front yard. It would be gone when I got home. And people used to put trash in my front yard. I came home one day and there was a box of trash in my front yard. My neighbor told me she saw the kids across the street put it there. So I went to their house, told their mother that her kids were seen and witnessed putting this in my front yard. She got so mad and screamed at me! I was the bad guy! I told her she should teach her children manners and she should learn some her self! There are some people now days who just think that any thing in some ones yard or where ever is fair game. For sure, what is this world coming to? I long for a simpler time when people respected each other and each others property!
astrl
15 years ago
That is awful. I read about the woman whose entire yard was dug up and chopped down before.

Any time something you cherish is stolen or maliciously destroyed, it is hard to take. At best, some people don't understand the connection we have with our plants and other living things. At worst, they don't care.

I hope you replant and get to see it bloom. Good luck!
gardenpaw
15 years ago
I am so sorry to hear that Mark, that is terrible!
I think that is a good idea to put a sign up....but if they
stole the first one it makes me wonder if it would have
any effect on thier conscience? Worth a try though.
Bless your heart, I hope and pray that your love and
kindness comes back to you 100 fold.

Karen
karyn1
15 years ago
It's usually not kids sealing the plants. There's a number of organized thieves who sell them on the black market. It's a serious problem in this area with expensive specimen plants, especially things like Japanese maples. People will pull a truck onto your lawn, dig the plant and pull it out using the truck and chains. The homeowner wakes up to a giant hole and tire marks on their lawn.There was even an article in the Post about it 2 years ago. It's a shame. I'm sorry your plant was stolen.
mrpearson253
Original Author
15 years ago
Wow that sounds much worse than my one measly little plant! :(
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
15 years ago
I don't worry too much about a plumeria planted in the ground in my area. Hardly anyone knows what they are--- that they're anything of value!
pakka
15 years ago
Mark,

Put up a sign "Do not steal, ARMED response". One of the responers assumed it was kids that took your plant. I would dare say it was an adult who took it. I have friends who had all their plants taken from their yard the very day they had finished relandscaping it, including the sprinkler system. Someone came in at night and took it all.

What's this world coming to?

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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A

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