Anybody who collects plants will have been unsettled by recent news of thefts from gardens, more prominently the brazen theft of the extremely rare and endangered Nymphaea thermarum from Kew, but also thefts from RHS Wisley's alpine collection. Just strike up a conversation about theft among plant people and the chances are that they will reel off examples of plants being stolen from public gardens. The best way to protect specimens might be to leave them unlabelled, but then that spoils the garden for enthusiastic (and honest) gardeners who visit gardens to learn about plants and how they are cultivated.
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| Impatiens 'Ice Storm' is desirable, but would anyone steal it? |
The other question is more to do with private collections; how safe are our own collections from theft? Gardeners are usually more than happy to share information about plants with other enthusiasts, whether on the internet or in person, but how safe is that? Should be be more careful?
I'd say probably yes. Many private collections have interesting, rare and unusual plants that could be seen as desirable to others, and it's likely that labeling our prized plants would make them easier to identify if someone did want to come back and steal them. Increasing security at home is probably a good idea, but sadly the best way to protect our prize plants might well be to make sure nobody knows we have them.
Can you imagine how dull horticulture would be if everyone hid their best plants away, never sharing the joy of growing them with others?
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