This is meant to be slightly humorous but a true story. One of my loves in life has been Bonsai. I have never gotten a huge collection but have usually maintained at least 3 or 4 and kept them for many years. So, when I am walking by bushes or trees, I am usually evaluating them as to their potential to become bonsais. One particular bush caught my attention. This was an azalea bush used in the landscaping of a popular restaurant chain. It was crowded in with a bunch of other azaleas and all that was really visible were the tops. Over the next several years I had fallen in love with the bush and was going to the restaurant more frequently just to check on it. The bush had almost no value to them and was easily replaceable but to me it had enormous value and was completely irreplaceable. Eventually they updated the landscaping and unceremoniously ripped it out with all the others. I used to fantasize about capers I could pull off to get the plant but never followed through on it. When I saw they were ripped off I honestly regretted not committing that crime. I am sure this relates to a lot of things in life. But then we can’t just have people walking around justifying our own behavior. Kind of a dilemma.
I had the exact same moral dilemma! Well, it was a Rolex watch at a jewelry store, not an azalea bush at a restaurant…but, the same in all other respects.
I feel absolutely no shame about asking to take cuttings from plants at commercial buildings. If you happen to run into a responsible manager who tells you that he can’t give you permission because he isn’t the building owner, go back the next day and ask someone else during the dinner rush. They will say OK without even hearing your question, but now you have permission to snip away to your heart’s content.
I’m am of course assuming that anyone who wants a cutting to propagate another plant won’t damage the host plant.
If something means a lot more to you than to the current owner, then we have the basis for a mutually-profitable transaction: There’s some amount of compensation you could offer such that, to you, the payment is less than the value of what you’re getting, and to them, the payment is more than the value of what they’re losing.
I was told only corporate could make that decision, I know better but never pushed the issue. I left my phone number a couple of times, but no one ever responded.
I know someone who noticed that in a fish tank at a restaurant, the guppies had bred a couple of times. He asked to speak to the manager, and told them he could sex the guppies, if they weren’t able to tell males from females.
Long story short, he ended up getting two adult females, and a couple of adolescent guppies for his services. He didn’t exactly breed guppies, but he sometimes let them breed (he had several tanks), and the most colorful or interesting ones he could trade with a fish store in town for store credit.
He had a strain of these beautiful ones with royal blue tales and pale blue bodies.
It really never hurts to ask. The worst that can happen is “No.”
Was his name Henry Huggins?
I read all of Beverly Cleary’s books, and I don’t remember Henry breeding guppies. Mostly, he had a paper route, and traded some black-market chewing gum for a lot of stuff.
I would have asked anyone in sight, eventually someone would say “go ahead”.
Sort of hedging your bets.
mmm
Is there some reason you couldn’t go to a nursery and buy what you needed? Stealing is morally wrong, no matter who you justify it in your mind.
The chapter is “Gallons of Guppies,” from I believe the first Henry Huggins book. I’m glad to know another lover of Beverly Cleary’s books.
Would anyone fuss about taking a cutting from a large bush? Unless I am mistaken (and I may well be) a cutting need not be very big. I doubt anyone would ever even notice the cutting was done. I certainly cannot imagine anyone caring enough to fuss about it unless it was some priceless plant they cultivated (but then it would not be on a public street corner).
I guess there is always the, “what if everybody did that” angle. @JaneDoe42 doing it is not a big deal. But if everyone walking by did it there would soon be no bush.
Which would make stealing the bush much more difficult - they’d know it was you (if they even noticed it was missing). Presumably a cutting would’ve been no good, since it wouldn’t necessarily grow in the same pleasing way?
You should’ve made an endless fuss until they paid for your silence with the bush. Easy to say in hindsight, though. I’m sorry that you never got your opportunity to get the plant and sorrier that it met an ignominious end.
It seems like you didn’t read the OP all the way through. He says he literally looks at every single plant he sees with an eye towards using it for bonsai, and this one was unique.
Next time I’d leave a message saying,”If I haven’t heard back from you within 48 hours, I’ll assume it’s okay.” They won’t respond or care, most likely, and you’ll have your implicit permission.
I didn’t understand that part. I assumed that the restaurant would hire a local landscaper who would purchase plants at a local nursery or big box store. Why would they purchase a special plant that could also be used for bonsai? I assumed those are specially raised and not your everyday plant.
I like this one!
As I understand it, any plant at all, or nearly so, can be bonsaied, and a lot of bonsai are of very common species. And I assume that what made this particular specimen special was something more individual than just what species it is, and that the special traits would not be immediately apparent to someone not versed in the art of bonsai.
Most any plant can be used for bonsai. We often start training plants at a very young age but they seldom match the beauty of something grown natural. Often times the gardeners will use weed eaters to just top the plants leading to a very well-developed bottom when all things fall together properly. Structure with character and grace is what we look for.
Would that hold up in a court of law?
Ignorance fought. Thanks.