I would try to contact the owner and ask if you can rescue the plumie. It may just be me but I always feel taking under any excuse is still taking. I feel asking is always required. Probably not what you hoped to here but that is a result of my boy scout youth. Bill

I agree with Bill. A plumeria of any color should be rescued. And honesty is the best policy.

Kasie

Ah well okee dokee. I will try and contact the owner. Probably if I call the number that is on the for sale sign I should be able to contact him. And he will probably say sure help yourself. And I can feel good about not just helping myself before asking! Thanks a bunch for your thoughts...
Lauri

Laurie,

I do not agree with Kasie or Bill. If you saw a starving dog on the street you would rescue it. This is the same thing. The owner deserted the plumie and whatever is left there. He couldn't care less abt. the plumeria. Rescue it just as you would a starving dog. You're doing the right thing. Sometimes ethics don't fit and this is one of those times. I would take it in a heartbeat ASAP before it dies.

Best
Plumie

I agree with Plumie. and if you want, leave a note

If the property is abandoned and the plumie's really been out there for months and is completely neglected I'd probably take it also.
Karyn

Oooooh...good question! I too grew up in Scouting, so the 'taking without permission' still rings in my head at the thought. But I think the idea of taking care of the starving dog is a good one also. Let us know what ends up happening Kevabear!

Mark

I fall somewhere in between. I would call first, and if you get no response then rescue!!! It will make you free of any guilt and will save a Plumie!

Good luck
Tony

Lauri,

Everyone here makes an excellent point. I think Tdogdad is right though.

If they say yes, you get a new plumeria and a clear conscience! If they say no, you still have the clear conscience anyway.

Brighty

I would suggest trying to get in touch with the owner first. Legally, the plumeria is considered part of the property because it is attached to the land and cannot be just picked up and moved. If you get no response from the owner, then consider the plumeria totally abandoned and rescue it without obtaining formal permission. You should plan to remove it and leave quickly if you do this, because you could find yourself in trouble if anyone questions your actions.

Philip

Hi Lauri,
Is there a real estate company handling the property? If so call them, but I would get signature that its ok to remove it.. Hate to see a cop stop by! I would be bugged too, but think you need some form of permission.
Karen

A lot of interesting view points here. Actually it's been deserted for years, at least three that I know of. I'm going to get the number today off of the sign. Not sure if it's a real estate agency, haven't really read the sign enough to know. I will call today. I will keep you all posted!
Lauri

you're doing the right thing, Lauri.

robert

i think that you should just dig it up and plant it at your house. obviously the owner doesnt care about it if he left it and isnt taking care of it. I bet that even if he came back, he wouldnt even notice it being gone. Plus its one more plumeria you can add to your collection. If you get it can you take a picture and post it.

Is this plumie in the ground or in a container? I was under the impression that it was in a pot.
Karyn

Maybe you can care for the plumie while you are trying to get permission to take it home? A nice drink of water with a little ST and B1 would probably go along way with the little guy :) Just a thought...

That's a nice thought plumeriastix. Actually Karyn it is in the ground. It's quite tall, I'd say a good 10 ft or more, and lanky. Part of me is thinking where in the world would I put it anyway? I have a total of I think eight out front, planted in the ground, and goodness only knows how many more out in pots on my back porch. The biggest draw towards this one, beside it's being so neglected, is it is so tall. I want a big one sooooo bad. Just found out yesterday that I was mistaken about the man living somewhere else, he actually lives on the property. By the look of it I just can't imagine... Every day I work I drive past that plummie and look at it, and want it.
Lauri

In that case why don't you just ask him if he would like to sell it? Maybe he'd even help you dig it up.
Karyn

excuse me....but didnt you say that the plumeria was on the outside......repeat outside of the fence.....if it is then its city property.....just take the plumeria and plant it.....whats the worst that can happen....the city give you a ticket....my god people.....we are so overly politicaly correct or what.....

but the outside of the guys fence can still be his property.it depends on where he placed the fence.

its like if you have a fence in your yard. the outside of the fence can still be your own property.

Bill Moragne imagined a wonderful street with plumerias growing up from both sides of the street so that one drove down a paradise of beauty. He planted that street and it was magnificant. It inspired me to grow over twenty plumies of various colors and at three years old I paid to ship them to form my own walkway. Like Bill, I planted, fed and cared for them to get them started. Then the people who believe anything is fair game and anything on "city property" is better in their yard, started breaking branches and pulling up whole plants. If you do not own something and you take it you are stealing from the owner whether it be a city or a person. My thought of people strolling along under a wonderful forest of flowering plumerias was destroyed by the selfish and thoughtless who made excuses for why they had a right to take my plants. Excuse me for being overly politically correct but I feel stealing city property or personal property is a lack of ethics and I find it no better than if I came and broke branches off your plumerias and said you did not need all those branches or I would take better care of them than you. Excuses do not make it right-period. Sorry to go ballistic but I saw what is left of Bill Moragne's plants and my plants and I have considerable disdain. Of course, that is my opinion.

Well said Bill!!! No one has a right to take something that does not belong to them regardless of where it is.

I am so sorry about your walkway and that of Mr. Moragne's. It seems we live in sad times when people do not respect each other's property. I would have loved to have walked along your plumie lined walkway or Mr. Moragne's street. Didn't he or someone else also plant in a park or school and the same thing happened there as well? So sad...

Kevabear, I still think maybe you could care for it until you speak with the owner. I know that's a pain and probably inconvenient but at least you know it would survive regardless of the outcome. Once the owner knows how much you love the plant it seems he would be willing to give or sell it to you if it means nothing to him...just more of my babbling :)

You are right. Bud Guillot put some beautiful 7 foot plants in a park and they also got completely stripped. He had planned to fill the whole area of the park but was so disappointed that he stopped giving. It would have been spectacular because he had some fantastic varieties that he planned to give. He wanted to make his rare collection available to those who love plumerias but he wanted them to look and appreciate, not steal. He, at over 80, had a hard time understanding why people would do this. I may be younger but I remember when you didn't lock your house and you could leave your bike out front for days. Times change-sometimes for the worse.

Ya know a couple months ago we went down to the beach area close to here. I noticed so many had HUGE plumeria trees. Out in their front yards, right by the side walk. Goodness knows I drooled. So I went to the front door of a few of them, rang their doorbell, told them I really admired their plumeria, and ask if it would be ok if I took a branch. They seemed soooo happy that I asked and all said help yourself. I think the reason they were so happy that I asked was because they probably get branches broken off fairly often. Made me feel pretty good. Plus I came home with a bunch of nice size plummie branches!
Lauri

i agree with bill on what he said.
it would make me so mad if people started taking cuttings off of my plumeria.

ok.....so let the plumeria die.....

wait a minute....I apologize ...I get so upset because it seems like we just talk and before you know it ...time has passed and little is done....and your right...I love to share my plumerias with everyone and to have someone come over and take/break instead of asking is .........so.... ..once again let us just go on and enjoy what we love doing.....

Eight years ago, we, my husband and I, bought a nice house with an awful looking yard on Kauai although we live in California. I didn't even know what plumeria was at that time. After the yard was clear, there were 4 huge plumeria trees; two of them were Daisy Wilcox and the others, Scott Pratt. I would feel very mad if someone else took my plumies while I wasn't at my property. As we haven't had a gardener to take care of the yard and have left things over grown, this doesn't mean that anyone who passes by can take whatever they liked.

I don't know where you live. However, the plumie will not die if the vines do survive.
Boom

I have no problem when someone comes up to me while I'm in the garden or rings my doorbell and asks about my plants. I love to share. I do have a problem when someone comes and cuts all my flowers in the middle of the night. Thankfully they haven't ripped up my plants but it still makes me very angry. There's a big problem in this area with theives digging out entire trees, especially Japanese maples and selling them. They pull a truck onto the property, dig around the tree and pull it out with chains if they can't lift it. The home owners wake to a huge hole and tread marks in the yard. Many of those trees go for thousands of dollars.
Karyn

Is this area in town?
Most have a residental,like homeowners association,or localhamber that people report unkept properties. I would ask any of these plus the realator. Good Luck. I know out in country if growing up in weeds its up for grabs but then if someone wants to be "sticky" its best to ask.

If the owner is on the site you don't have any option but to go talk to him. Even if it wasn't wrong you can't just dig up one this large, sling it in the trunk and go - you might get caught. We don't want that!! Please let us know what happens.

Suzanne

Laurie,

When I first responded you mentioned the property was vacated for over 3 years and no one lived on the premises and that's why I said what I did. If a man lives on the property you need permission you can get in big trouble by trespassing. I originally thought it was deserted now it's a whole new story.

Plume

All I've got to say is; right on, doggydaddy!

So, This has made for quite the topic. So...Here's pictures of the plummie that we are all bantering about.

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http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k157/kevabear/nurseryplummy001.jpg

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oh man. thats a huge one! it would take a while to cut down all those vines. have you talked to the guy who owns the property yet?and what color is the plumeria

That tree is huge! I couldn't imagine trying to dig it up. Maybe you could ask the owner if you could have some cuttings.
Karyn

Hi Lauri,
Have you seen it bloom???? ever? Might be my decision on wether to take the tree, or ask or take cuttings. Strange no one has tried. .. big one, would be big roots. This one would drive me nuts.. my husband would be Philip and Bill as a boy scout! no no no. ha
Karen B.

Hi Laurie - I love the last photo. Even though there's a tangle of mess there...some how every thing looks to be in harmony. The leaves on the plumeria looks robust and by the look of the leaves, I'm guessing that maybe it's an Aztec Gold plumeria. Since it's been growing for awhile I'm sure that the root system is well established and it does not look like it will die if you deprive it of water. You have rain and humidity right? So this one will not die, nor will the vines and cannas and what ever else is there.

And thank you for clearing things up by providing more information pertaining to this topic. At first I was really, really angry...but it turn into sadness, as I can see by responses to your post that honesty is not the best policy for everyone. I know this is an open forum and everyone's opionion is his/her own.

And even if the owner says no, life will still go on and you'll continue to grow more beautiful plumerias. Okay I'll stop ranting now. Good luck Laurie.

Kasie

Well there has been a lot of interesting view points on this post. I haven't seen any blooms this year, but have in years past, they are yellow. And I would say I'm fairly sure branches have been plucked. The tree taunts me as I drive by, so big and covered in vines. And this season with no inflo's or blooms it seems sad. However, I know that I already have so many that I don't know what I am going to do with, what would I do with this one more? I have a huge branch in my garage right now that I just don't know where to put. So I think I will continue to drive past this big tall plummie, and it will continue to taunt me. Hopefully one day I will drive by and the owner will have pulled off all of the vines. I'm glad I posted, all these view points have been interesting to read.
Lauri

Thanks for posting the photos Laurie, now I can see why you were thinking about a rescue. I still think it wouldn't hurt to try to talk to the owner.

Suzanne

Hello Lauri,

If you dont take care of your children,they take them away,if you dont take care of your animals also!!
So if you dont take care of your plants,...................

greetings, Michael

I've been thinking about this - how about if we all go out to Lauri's and then to the nursery en masse? Suzanne

Count me in!
Gill.