Hmmm, I had to think about this one for awhile. And I will play devil's advocate, for a bit. I have never felt guilty about removing a ripe seed pod or two from a planting, when I could reach it from the sidewalk (and no, not leaning way over.) I guess the difference to me is that taking a cutting is wounding the parent plant. I have taken cuttings from groundcovers, when the groundcover was spreading onto the sidewalk. This is usually in a commercial setting. But as I learned last year in a neighborhood dispute, the sidewalk needs to be kept clear of vegetation from edge to edge, by city ordinance, so the plant is trespassing anyway. Two wrongs don't make a right, but I think it is safe to say that this material will be pruned and discarded in a commercial setting. Paid groundskeepers are not being paid to propagate plants. There was one time that I was sorely tempted to steal an entire plant. A Burger King had become vacant, and boarded up, and there was a Japanese maple in one of the planting beds. The building stood vacant for a long time, and I always planned to contact the owner, but by the time I would get home (at least an hour later) I would forget. Besides, the property was up for sale. Eventually, the tree was gone, but by that time, I was no longer in the neighborhood routinely. I hope the tree found a good home, and did not just die. I think it is sometimes a gray area. In some cases, there is a good reason to believe that the owner does not even know or care about the existence of the plant. In my area, there are old abandoned fruit trees along the roadside in some areas. And Himalayan blackberries are a terrible weed. Is it wrong to take these? (In my mind, taking an apple is the same or WORSE than taking a cutting, because an ignorant person can damage the fruiting spur, and affect subsequent fruiting.) And is it wrong to take a cutting, if the fruit tree has superior fruit? There is always the remote possibility that the tree is an older variety that has been lost, and might now be rediscovered. Also, I have been tempted at times to bring pruning shears along on my bicycle rides in self defense. Sometimes there are weeds along the side of the bicycle path. I am not sure who owns the land, I believe that it is public. If these blackberries are blocking a public right of way, then isn't my pruning a public service? So far, I have been too lazy to do anything about this, so it hasn't been an issue. And contacting the authorities may be futile. A few years ago, I wanted to complain because my bike ath was closed down for the entire summer for a public works project. However the shoulder on the other side of the road was hazardous because of heavy machinery parked in the shoulder. Noone knew which government agency was doing the work. Granted, I only made a few phone calls before giving up. But in my neighborhood, I usually note the yards that I like, and use it as a good reason to take a walk past, and hope to find the gardener tending their plants. I find this a good incentive to get out of the house, and get the exercise that I need. However, the vast majority of my 'free' plants come from the various gardening club meetings that I attend. Many gardeners with mature plantings have plants that need dividing, and will bring in their excess. Sometimes, these are sold at low cost. I have much more sucess with plants that have survived in local gardens, than with plants that have been force-fed in containers all of their lives.

only crosses i try these days are aloes and related. AFAIK, the seedlings have only been self pollinated (i don't try any isolation, emasculation etc), which is ok, since i like seedlings. in spring/summer 2007, the bloom period overlaps differed from the usual, so i prioritized the fresh opportunity. long ago i tried a lot of wide crosses (stuff that i had)... various irises (from different groups) aristea. - you get the idea :-) some of these needed emasculation, covering, ,, tiresome. most of the flowers never set fruit/seed. the only "success" is a traditional reliable cross, crinum x amaryllis. only one seedling survived to maturity and it does ok. I'm still interested in trying related species or whatever, preferably dryish. (i have one retail hippeastrum bulb that manages to maintain its size despite calif rain season being ~reverse of its origin's. it never gets close to blooming) when i think of massive-selection projects such as hardier agapanthus, i visualize acres planted out to survive or not. but the infrastructure for that is financially prohibitive. instead i considered evaluating plants with many existing survivors. almonds seemed the best, since seedlings will survive in various areas nearby. unfortunately, conditions vary too much for useful comparison. :-( other (semi)weedy plants could be project candidates. quercus, rhamnus, rhus, corydalis, epilobium, arbutus, pistacia. allium is a large genus... but... many species in a genus doesn't guarantee many potential cross parents. and we wouldn't want the offspring to be too successful... spider hemerocallis are freaky looking :-) . i guess larger re/bloom period and vigor would be the biggest goals. daylillies (stella d'oro or generics) are common in commercial landscapes but they need way too much irrigation. they strongest ones i've grown died off on me after a few years of (relative) coddling. i know there are numerous H species so maybe they could be tested for better tolerance for dry heat.

Okay, I'll bring some fig cuttings. Thank for the offer, but I have three figs trees which is all I have room for. Does anyone have seeds or small plants of the little vine LOVE IN A PUFF? If you do I'd like to get it going again. Reworked the beds it was in so thoroughly it didn't come back this year. BTW, I found some four inch pots of PORTERWEED at ARE so don't need those. Hopefully, I'll have some to share next year. See you all about this time tomorrow :-) MacArthur Park opens at 9:00.

Interesting the impressions some have :-) There is a big difference between a department store......of which very few exist these days.....and large clothing stores. Nordstroms has never been a department store!! It started as a shoe store.....period! I remember shopping there in my late teenage years, as they were one of the few places around that sold Capezio shoes (which I loved and had a vast collection :-)) It wasn't until it combined with a woman's apparel store (Best's Apparel) that it became a clothing store, known as Nordstrom-Best and finally just Nordstroms. But it only sold shoes and clothes. That is NOT a department store!! Back in the day, Seattle had two, semi-upscale department stores - The Bon Marche and Frederick and Nelsons. The sold everything from soup to nuts....clothes, toys, furniture and antiques, appliances, kitchenware, fine china and crystal, linens, fine art, etc. And food.....both already prepared food, imported goods, a bakery and several restaurants. The Bon was acquired by Macy's in 2003 but still remains as the largest department store in the area. Frederick and Nelsons was even larger than The Bon and a step or two up in both quality and price. And F&N was where Frango's originated. F&N was acquired by Marshall Fields in 1929 but always operated under the F&N name. It was a huge store...12 storeys and occupied a full city block. It had multiple restaurants, a fantastic bakery, a candy kitchen (where Frangos and other candies were made), a post office, beauty salon, infirmary, a daycare facility and a reading room. It was known for its fabulous, animated Christmas windows and was where all the best Santa photos were taken :-) It was a Seattle institution! It closed with the demise of Marshall Fields in the early 90's. But that massive store is still there in the heart of downtown Seattle and is now the Nordstrom flagship store and corporate office.