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I can see that argument for reselling. BUT, if I want a cutting of a plant for myself, I'll do it.
Selling is not the point. The point is the creator of the plant, the organization, nursery or individual who went to the trouble to patent the plan did so b/c they want others to buy them from the nursery and not take cuttings. This is their business, their livelihood.
There are no more generous people on earth than gardeners. We all have too many seeds, plants, bulbs, etc which we want to share. I give away huge amounts of plants every spring. I hate to toss anything and sometimes beg my neighbors to take some cannas which have reproduced to the point of ridiculousness. But if someone is so unscrupulous as to take something from my yard without the common decency of asking I will get really angry and report it as theft. I will get license plate numbers and call 911. Theft is theft. A little snip is just as much stealing as a whole plant. You have trespassed on my property.''I am very sensitive about this.
Every spring I watched a jerk sneak into my Atlanta yard and take cuttings from some very special and patented azaleas which were only sold at Callaway Gardens. My husband followed him once back to his home where he had hobby greenhouses and a sign in his front yard which read Rare Azaleas for Sale. He had a whole row of cuttings, some from my plants and probably some from others he had stolen. After he posed as interested customer, DH called the police and very understanding police officer got him for having a commercial business in residential neighborhood. No business license. The jerk was stupid enough to have labeled each cutting with the original address so he could go back to get more. We put him out of business.
A few neighbors caught some teens cutting flowers in their front yards one night right before a school dance. They were on the decoration committee and a bunch of them rode around looking for flowers to steal. Charges were filed. they missed the dance. Their parents and the advisor for the dance committee were called. Big trouble. Stealing is stealing whether it is a little bit or a whole lot.
Selling is not the point. The point is the creator of the plant, the organization, nursery or individual who went to the trouble to patent the plan did so b/c they want others to buy them from the nursery and not take cuttings. This is their business, their livelihood.
There are no more generous people on earth than gardeners. We all have too many seeds, plants, bulbs, etc which we want to share. I give away huge amounts of plants every spring. I hate to toss anything and sometimes beg my neighbors to take some cannas which have reproduced to the point of ridiculousness. But if someone is so unscrupulous as to take something from my yard without the common decency of asking I will get really angry and report it as theft. I will get license plate numbers and call 911. Theft is theft. A little snip is just as much stealing as a whole plant. You have trespassed on my property.''I am very sensitive about this.
Every spring I watched a jerk sneak into my Atlanta yard and take cuttings from some very special and patented azaleas which were only sold at Callaway Gardens. My husband followed him once back to his home where he had hobby greenhouses and a sign in his front yard which read Rare Azaleas for Sale. He had a whole row of cuttings, some from my plants and probably some from others he had stolen. After he posed as interested customer, DH called the police and very understanding police officer got him for having a commercial business in residential neighborhood. No business license. The jerk was stupid enough to have labeled each cutting with the original address so he could go back to get more. We put him out of business.
A few neighbors caught some teens cutting flowers in their front yards one night right before a school dance. They were on the decoration committee and a bunch of them rode around looking for flowers to steal. Charges were filed. they missed the dance. Their parents and the advisor for the dance committee were called. Big trouble. Stealing is stealing whether it is a little bit or a whole lot.
What a great post.
I would not be surprised to find out that the azalea thief and the teen flower thieves had parents who said to them (either verbally or by example) "Of course, it is OK to just take a few cuttings off of plants that do not belong to you."
I wonder if the people who think it is OK to snip off a branch without asking are the same people who think it is OK to take a few apples, or cut a few pretty flowers for a bouquet.
I've come home to find that all of my lilies had gone for a walk and my grapevines striped. But hey, it doesn't actually hurt the plant.
I've found people inside my fenced backyard, picking blackberries and they insisted they could be there because they were wild berries. Uh, no they aren't. I planted them, I cared for them, and I put up the fence to let you know you are trespassing.
We have had the same experience (but not with black berries). We have had people arguing that they are not trespassing when they were actually standing inside our fence next to a No Trespassing sign.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke
When I was very young, there were so many wildflowers that the hills looked solid bright orange, or solid deep blue. Now, the same hills are just plain dirt in the spring. When all the flowers get picked, there is no seed production for next year's plants.
I have never ever been turned down when I asked if I could have a cutting. There is no reason to not take a few seconds to ask.
I have never turned down anyone who asked for a cutting, but I prefer to use my own clean shears and to supervise just what is cut off.
I have been feeling so sad about the lack of wild flowers, where there used to be so many, that every spring I purchase packs and packs of wild flower seeds and spread them around. Hopefully, in a couple of years there will be at least a few more wild flowers. I have not seen a difference yet, but I can always hope.
And sometimes it does. Just like the Rose Rustlers; sometimes it does. If it had not been for those people; those rose strains would be gone forever!
Stealing is never justified, no matter how you try to spin it. It is stealing, plain and simple.
I was at my brother's house one time, standing out front. This lady walked across the street, walked in to our yard, took a rose off of the rose bush, and started to walk off.
That is theft. And the audacity to do it right in front of me, when I was standing right there, is beyond rude.
My brother did not give that lady permission to "take a clipping" from his rose bush that he paid for, that he planted, that he worked to keep looking beautiful. Ceece, I'll come to your house and just "take a clipping" from your refrigerator, your garden, your clothes closet, etc. I mean, according to you, "just a cutting" is not theft. Thanks for letting me know where to get free stuff when I want it.
Originally Posted by Cav Scout wife
And sometimes it does. Just like the Rose Rustlers; sometimes it does. If it had not been for those people; those rose strains would be gone forever!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
Stealing is never justified, no matter how you try to spin it. It is stealing, plain and simple.
I was at my brother's house one time, standing out front. This lady walked across the street, walked in to our yard, took a rose off of the rose bush, and started to walk off.
That is theft. And the audacity to do it right in front of me, when I was standing right there, is beyond rude.
My brother did not give that lady permission to "take a clipping" from his rose bush that he paid for, that he planted, that he worked to keep looking beautiful. Ceece, I'll come to your house and just "take a clipping" from your refrigerator, your garden, your clothes closet, etc. I mean, according to you, "just a cutting" is not theft. Thanks for letting me know where to get free stuff when I want it.
And, as I posted earlier, the Rose Rustlers, right on their website, say DON'T TAKE ANYTHING FROM ANYWHERE, EVEN WHAT YOU THINK IS "THE WILD", WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE OWNER. Which is what they do - they go to the trouble to find the owner of the property, be it individual, business, or government, even if it looks like "the wild" (and every bit of land in Texas is owned by somebody), and ask permission FIRST, and if they can't get it, or the answer is no, they DON'T TAKE IT.
Anyone who engages in that kind of behavior, for that matter, just makes it harder on the people who are really trying to save those rose strains or rare strains of other plants. So don't use the Rose Rusters' name to try to excuse your theft. It's not fair to them.
It is nice to know that there are so many people around with such solid principles, who can easily distinguish right from wrong. However, if I was a gardener and my pant was hanging outside my fence and someone would come to my porch and knock the door and bubble about how beautiful my plant is, and ask for tiny little clipping from outside my fence, and distract me from reading, drinking coffee, cooking, talking, writing, or, worse, making love - all because that person would like to perceive herself right and honest to the very last nanomillimeter of her soul, I would never give anything to her and would probably tell her never show up here again. And my words would not be polite. Because way more than my clippings I value my time.
However, if I was a gardener and my pant was hanging outside my fence and someone would come to my porch and knock the door and bubble about how beautiful my plant is, and ask for tiny little clipping from outside my fence, and distract me from reading, drinking coffee, cooking, talking, writing, or, worse, making love - all because that person would like to perceive herself right and honest to the very last nanomillimeter of her soul, I would never give anything to her and would probably tell her never show up here again.
Totally appreciate your opinion. Your time is more valuable than talking to someone who is about to cut one of your plants? LOL, well, as you yourself note, you're not a gardener. I'm happy for you, though, that you apparently spend so much time making love every day that you think it would be likely this would interrupt your nooky time.
It is nice to know that there are so many people around with such solid principles, who can easily distinguish right from wrong. However, if I was a gardener and my pant was hanging outside my fence and someone would come to my porch and knock the door and bubble about how beautiful my plant is, and ask for tiny little clipping from outside my fence, and distract me from reading, drinking coffee, cooking, talking, writing, or, worse, making love - all because that person would like to perceive herself right and honest to the very last nanomillimeter of her soul, I would never give anything to her and would probably tell her never show up here again. And my words would not be polite. Because way more than my clippings I value my time.
And just as you would prefer that someone not ask you for a clipping and that that be respected, you should respect that there are many people who would prefer that you not steal clippings f rom their plants (because, while we're being honest, let's be honest, it IS stealing that you're trying to justify) and not do it if you feel that they would value their time as much as their clippings, because you can't make that decision for them any more than they can for you.
Originally Posted by Cav Scout wife
And sometimes it does. Just like the Rose Rustlers; sometimes it does. If it had not been for those people; those rose strains would be gone forever!
And, as I posted earlier, the Rose Rustlers, right on their website, say DON'T TAKE ANYTHING FROM ANYWHERE, EVEN WHAT YOU THINK IS "THE WILD", WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE OWNER. Which is what they do - they go to the trouble to find the owner of the property, be it individual, business, or government, even if it looks like "the wild" (and every bit of land in Texas is owned by somebody), and ask permission FIRST, and if they can't get it, or the answer is no, they DON'T TAKE IT.
Anyone who engages in that kind of behavior, for that matter, just makes it harder on the people who are really trying to save those rose strains or rare strains of other plants. So don't use the Rose Rusters' name to try to excuse your theft. It's not fair to them.
I just don't "get" that some people do not understand that every piece of land, at least in the US, is owned by somebody.
Whether the plant in in a public or private setting shouldn't matter. I think permission should be obtained or otherwise it could be viewed as a form of vandalism. If someone were to come by my residence and ask permission, I would most likely give it because I like honest people.
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