I say, if you have to kick someone's fense over and trample a couple rose bushes it would be in bad form.

Now on the other hand, if the canna in question were converniently located, maybe even over hanging, a curbside fence line then maybe....

No one's ever accused me of being Miss Manners and it certainly wasn't me who coined the phrase "it's easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

In the end, I would assume that if it was a whole lot o canna it wouldn't matter. If it was just a few, then maybe the owner might have wanted them.

If we ever get any rain here in San Antonio, I hope to end up with a shoe-box full of seed,,, ahem,, from my plants.

Good luck and watch out for dogs!

Wow! Fulfilling a morning ritual I cozy up to the canna forum with coffee in hand before heading to my garden, only to be met with moral dilemna!

Fatbaldguy, if I wanted that, I'd pick up the phone and call my kids. OK. OK. We are where we are. Who would have guessed one forum could be so interesting? I'm so torn on this one. Now, your dilemna has become one for thousands of readers/canna growers who are now searching their very souls for this answer.

As Nightrider says, no rose trampling please. On your "route"... hmm... perhaps these are business or "corporate" canna seeds? As long as they are not in a restricted area, nobody should care. Asking permission under such circumstance would probably mark you as a "crazy" to be watched.

If "neighborhood" canna, I guess if you follow Nightrider's advice, especially concerning the numbers, you'd be OK. Alternately, however, you could always admire them, say a few wonderful words to the owner, and ask if you might harvest a few seed to try to duplicate their splendid work. Who could resist such a request? And if they do, then you obviously have your answer and I wouldn't want that seed - (unless, of course, you want to hear the "Mission Impossible" theme song everytime you see that canna in your own garden). In that case, you can stroll your garden one day in your mature years and remember that "wild" summer of 2008.

If the canna is at someone's residence, I would definitely ask permission from the owner first before taking anything. If it is at a business or public park, then I would go for it.

No harm? Is this on private porperty? If it is then you have no idea what harm it may be. They could be waiting to collect the seeds themselves. They could've cross pollinated the flowers and are waiting for a desirable cross. They may be selling the seeds or sharing them with friends.

They would very likely be thrilled to share them with you but it is a souring experience to see that someone has taken liberties with your garden without permission, very souring. It boils down to that they do not belong to you, they belong to the owner and you should have a little respect and ask. Would it really hurt?

Lot's of good questions here. I think it's time for me to just come stright out and admit that I'm an avid seed collector. WIth my job, I travel a lot and when I visit new places, especially tropical ones, I'm always on the prowl for new and exotic seeds.

It's really an odd-ball hobby, but I know their are others like me. I find it very interesting. For one, it's a chance get to really cool seeds for free. Also, it's a good way to remind me of some of the places I've visited, seeing those plants in the yard.

So what's at issue here? The rules.

This is what I go by. I don't take seeds from residential property without permission. What I look for is commercial property with nice landscaping. Fact is at hotels, when plants go the seed the landscapers are always cleaning that mess out. They don't even want it.

Like the tropical Bird of Paradise plants all over San Diego. I could never figure out how to get seeds from that plant, since the landscapers get rid of them as soon as they emerge. I finally found some neglected plants in a public park and found that what they do is send out a seed pod very similar to a cannas, right out of the flower.

Anyways, in the end you just have to use good judgement. If possible, it's always a good idea to ask.

I've taken a small rhizome of canna Wyoming from a mass planting at a rest area on Interstate 5 here in California. I assumed it wouldn't do any harm if they were planted in a public place and were hacked back to control the spread of rhizomes anyway. That one rhizome has become over 50 individual clumps that i have throughout the yard within 2 years.

Thank you for the reminder to ask permission. Most of these are mass plantings.

I have to admit that I have taken quite a few seed samples from various business and public plantings, as well as an occaisional private home. It never occurred to me that the homeowner may want to collect those seeds themselves. I don't think I've collected anything that great from anyones private garden, though, and only if it was right there along the sidewalk. I figure, if you're planting adjacent to a public area, you should be prepared to have the occaisional flower plucked. The same holds for a seed pod. I have a garden along an alley that gets very heavy foot traffic. I just don't plant anything there that I'm not willing to lose.

I work for an interior landscaping company. Many of our plants are in commercial building lobbies, a "public space".

If I am there pruning a pothos or whatever, I am happy to give the clippings to someone if they ask. However, if someone started to hack off pieces to take home, I would be angry. The building management has paid for those plants and for their care. Taking a piece is stealing, period. I've never had a pruning done that was obvious enough to notice. But we have had entire potted poinsettias stolen, given as Xmas gifts to someone else, no doubt. Merry Christmas - have a stolen plant in honor of Jesus!

Now, a seed pod in a public place? Theoretically, that's stealing too. If it's something you are quite sure is going to be trashed soon, especially if it's laying on a sidewalk, I guess it's not too bad, but I still wouldn't do it.

A private residence? I would butter up the owner and ask sweetly for a few seeds. Most gardeners would probably give you the seeds and a whole bunch of other plant goodies as well if you just took an interest in their yard!

A public conservatory? No way. They are always short of funds and labor. They propagate a lot of their own plants, they may want those seeds or be doing research with them.

A national park? Taking anything is a crime, period.

I remember years ago, my sweet old lady neighbor that I had known for years admitted that the gorgeous coleus she owned and had shared with me was "pinched" from the Philadelphia Flower Show years ago! I was too appalled to say anything. I let that coleus die off a few years later, and I'm not sure it was an accident.

Aside from all that, if the canna is a hybrid, it isn't going to come true from seed anyway.

Personally, seeds are cheap. Why not just buy them and sleep better at night? Or go to the GardenWeb swap lists.

Call me The Plant Police, I guess.

I have plants at the edge of my yard and we do not have sidewalks. I am upset when people take cuttings, seeds or anything else from my plants. I do not take any from anyone else's yard and I do not expect anyone to take from me.

If someone ask I have been known to dig up some and share.

I will be Assistant Plant Police.

I wouldn't take any seeds or cuttings from someone's garden without permission. If you ask, you could wind up with a new gardening friend and get to share/trade other stuff.

I don't see a problem with obtaining seed from a commercial/highway planting. Digging something up from these sources would be going over the line.

"Abandoned" gardens are a source of temptation, but you still don't know who owns the property and might plan to dig up some of Mom's heirlooms when they get around to it. Always better to ask first.

As someone said, most cannas are hybrids that won't come true from seeds anyway, so what you need is a rhizome or two, & the property owner may well be happy for you to thin his/her cannas a little bit.

Several years ago,I noticed some cannas overflowing their measly little space at a barbeque restaurant, & I always *meant* to put my garden fork in the trunk & ask the owners for some cannas when I was there "next time".

& now the cannas are gone.

so go ahead & take your garden fork & a cardboard box (a small one so you don't look like a greedy canna hog-!) & maybe a few irises or daylilies or a different variety of canna to offer in return...& stop & ask.

Best luck!

Good question. I like SyviaTexas's answer, ask and possibly bring something to offer in return, even if it's just some vegetable seeds. In terms of a residence, I'm thinking about what I would want someone to do-- I'd want them to ask first, and then I'd gladly give them a whole plant (my canna is multiplying very rapidly).

I share a lot of cuttings/seeds/plants with my mother, and would hate it if seeds or anything else were taken that I had pegged for my mom.