I had a neighbor with beautiful huge globe allium in her front yard. She saw someone (probably a neighbor) stop the car and someone jumped out and took them! Are you sure it was the children?

If so, perhaps you could invite them to help you plant some new ones! Turn them away from a life of crime (ha) and toward a love of gardening! ;-)

I have 4 kids- we have taught them that the bird/butterfly/etc need to eat the nectar in the flowers. They are welcome to pick up any blossoms that have fallen on the ground, though. That's always satisfied their need to touch without being destructive...

I'm sorry that happened to you. I Had to take all the roses out of the pots in front of the house because of the neighbors kids. They kept ripping the blooms off. We tried to say something but they yelled "kids will be kids" and that was that. Not worth it. We have herbs and foliage plants out there now, not the same, but at least I don't come home to maimed pots anymore.

So I just wanted to say, sorry that happened. I have no advice really for dealing with the neighbors. Alliums are such a lovely choice and that certainly is a violation of your space.

I think some sort of friendly communication is better than nothing, at least for you. I would approach the parents and tell them once is no problem, but explain that you might be planning to save seeds from some of your plants, so you need as many blossoms as possible to get pollinated and be allowed to mature to set seed. You can teach the kids all about the birds and the bees! What parent wouldn't thank you for that?

Martha

Thanks everyone. I'd rather not be confrontational but certainly talking to people could help. I however work all day and come home late. It's probably a one-off thing. I suspect its my immediate neighbor with 2 young kids.