When my husband and I moved to Toronto from California last year, we knew the climate here isn’t exactly tropical, but we do still love Palms and Giant Birds of Paradise. We were surprised to have found some Birds at a store last year when we got here, and planted them in two large containers which we placed on our front porch until fall.
In the fall, we dutifully dragged our plants inside, put them under fluorescent grow-lamps and kept them healthy and growing all winter. In the spring, we dragged them back out onto the front porch, where they have looked fabulous all summer.
They had grown to about 7 feet each over the last year, and we were trying to decide where we would put them again this winter - luckily the house has 12 foot ceilings…
We don’t miss the Bay Area too much, and are getting settled in here downtown in the middle of the city. Coming home to the Birds of Paradise on the porch was sort of a reminder of home.
When we were explaining how to find our house (it’s in a row of 1890’s homes), we always told people to look for the Birds - worked every time…
This morning I woke up and was told by hubby that when he went to walk the dog early in the morning, he noticed the porch seemed a lot larger than normal… Someone had stolen our two plants - including the planters.
I’m not quite sure how they managed to do it - it took both of us to lift them. Our next door neighbor/neighbour told us at around 2 am he thought he heard a sound like a patio door closing, (or planters being dragged across a concrete porch), but he didn’t think much about it and didn’t look outside.
At least they didn’t steal our antique gargoyle who was keeping watch a couple of feet away… and who is now living on our deck…
Anybody know where to buy some regular Birds of Paradise in Canada? I think we’ll go less grandiose next year…
Canada just got a bit colder in the middle of August 
) Maybe someone in town will notice their neighbor’s new plants and put two and two together.