help after theft

Anne, I just read your post and feel absolutely sick for your sister :-( It never ceases to amaze me how scummy some people can be!

At Christmas this past year, I had about five poinsettias mixed with greens and cyclamen in pots on my front porch, and two days before Christmas, someone came and stole the only expensive poinsettia (and the largest centerpiece, of course) right out of the middle of the pot, leaving all the cheaper plants and bare dirt in the middle. I absolutely couldn't believe someone would do such a thing, especially at Christmas! I thought that experience was bad enough, but if someone ever took from my hibiscus, I would want serious revenge!! I sure hope you're able to find the scumbag that did this!!

karen

I have all of my hibiscus on my front porch. They make a great display, but now, they will be moved!
You know, someone who lives close to her and probably knows her took the plants. And you're right that they know what they are taking and how to make money from it. If she has a back gate, have her hang pans or something on it that will clang when opened. she should definitely get a motion-sensor light. I'm so sorry this happened to her. I will try to do some cuttings on my hibiscus that I could send to her later.
love, julie

Or it could have been one of the people who stopped and asked her if she sells things, if people are stopping to ask her that it must be somewhat obvious from the street that she has a lot of plants, and if they stopped to ask her that they could have got a close enough look to know that she had things they wanted, then they came back at night to take what they wanted.

A few years ago I had a night time thief too. He would come and take what ever I had just bought. I would tell my husband and he would say it was just kids fooling around. He would not take it seriously. Then they stole my new arbor I had put in. I still remember coming out and watering and turning around and realizing something was different. I was so mad I could have popped. Again my husband said it was just kids fooling around. I could have popped him too.

So I typed up a flyer titled PLANT THIEF describing all that had been taken including each plant and tree that had been taken. I asked everyone to call the police if they saw anyone in my yard besides me (a fat lady covered in mud). I ran them off and went around in a 4 block radius and put them on every car and in every door. 1 block away a man stopped me as he read my flyer. Turned out they had dropped the arbor on his lawn and he had it in his backyard. He gave it back to me.

I never had a theft again!

I did the same thing when someone shot my cat with a BB gun. I wrote in big letters PET ABUSER across the top. I explained how much pain Molly was in and how she was going to have to be caged for 6 weeks till the titanium rod took and if it didn't her leg would have to be amputated. I figured a parent would see this and take their kids BB gun away. None of my cats were ever shot again.

I think people do not like to read about themselves like that. Makes them think twice when they are so labeled. On occasion when someone stops to comment on my garden, they may say to me you are the lady that had plants stolen or even you had your cat shot. So they still remember.

Anyway, that may help your sister too if she lives in that kind of neighborhood where she could do that. Also a neighbor might have been over to another neighbor's house and suddenly saw all new plants appear and it would click when she read the flyer.

I bet she does not feel safe anymore. Such a violation! They stole her peace of mind which is even worse than taking her plants. I am so sorry for her!

They did have a motion sensor light but had it turned off. It's on now! She has put some other things out as well. So hopefully they won't have the ***** to do that a 3rd time. lol She hasn't gotten on line in Dave's in a long time so, I will have her look on here so that she can read all the notes. She just needs her spirits lifted. This will help a bunch I'm sure.
She is on Ebay a lot so I will alert her to that. As for rooting hibiscus, I've heard that it is very difficult and more often than not doesn't work. However the way they took care about cutting on the Candywind made us think that someone will be doing some grafting. I will certainly tell her about the AHS thought. I had thought about alerting the group here in Texas and will. Thank you so much for your kind words I know that they will help.

Have the local paper do an article about the theft.Whoever did it will think twice about the possibility of getting caught.Also someone may notice there friends trying to sell or root cuttings.Even try the local news channels.

Kyle

HIbiscus cuttings root readily in nothing more than water. I suspect the person that took them knew exactly what they were doing and next year will have blooming plants thanks to what they got from your sister's yard.

Chances are your sister's 'plants' that were cut above the graft will grow out again and be fine, albeit far behind in the growth they should have had this year.

The true shame of it is that cuttings could probably have been taken from them next year with no problems to the plants. That leaves me wondering why the person couldn't/wouldn't wait until then...

Donna
Someone who has more than a few hibiscus grown from cuttings taken from someone else's yard ~ but with permission and never to the detriment of the plant!!!



This message was edited Jun 24, 2007 1:54 AM

auntanne....i hope that the quietness means no thiefs? ...any new info? hopefully no news is good news:)

How about setting a few "mouse" or "rat" traps? I know it sounds silly, but if whoever did it, is brazen enough to come back, they should would have sore toes and feet.
Oh, and lets not forget the scream or vularity coming out of their mouth, that would give them away.

No news is good news. She set a few alarms here and there.

Tell your sister to get herself some of those driveway patrol alarms and set the infrared sensor where it will be triggered near her plants and put the receiver right next to her bed.
Those infrared sensors work even in the dark. If she wants to scare the bejeebers out of whoever it is, tell her to set the receiver right there on the porch a little ways away from the sensor. When the beam is broken by the plant thieves....that very loud siren will scare the hell out of them. They cost $19.95 apiece on Ebay. I use them to scare the deer that try to sneak into my gardens.

This really irked me good...can you believe the gall of some people.

Nana3

I love the rat trap idea. Unfortunately, if you have ever had a kitty get a paw in one of those, you would nix that option right off the bat.

Yeah and she has neighborhood kitties. And she says to tell you that great minds think alike. She ordered 5 of those, Nana and that they arrived yesterday. lol.

Now I kinda hope they come back... LOL

Yeah me too, but unless their stolen goods don't work they prob. won't

They might if she were to bring in some new 'goods'.

I hope she catches them!!!