Plant And Flower Thieves Get Shamed By "Punny" Wall Of Shame Poster Complete With Their Photos And Garden-Related Pun Nicknames

"If they don't like it, they can get clover it."

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• March 5, 2024

Tired of their neighbors stealing garden decorations, plants, and flowers, a Redditor made a "punny" wall of shame to deter would-be thieves. OP and their mom thought it was cute and hilarious, but their neighbors weren't as delighted.

Their neighbors thought OP's pun-filled poster was a petty and disproportionate punishment. It said, "Oh Hay there! Don't be a Daffy-dil and steal, or else you might end up doing hard Thyme! We hope Thistle be a lesson to Yew!"

OP bordered the poster with photos of their neighbors as they stole from the garden. OP overestimated their neighbors' sense of humor because they didn't think anyone could be offended by adorable garden puns.

Even the gardening-related pun nicknames OP gave the neighbors didn't thaw their icy demeanor. Mr. Potato Head, dill-a-tante, pothead, prick, succ-er, I peony in my pants, frond-less, dirtbag, in-fertile, and root boy were some of the unique nicknames they were bestowed.

OP's mom encouraged them to put the sign up because she was tired of being stolen from. A parent of one garden enthusiast confronted OP and asked them to take the sign down because their son, who stole flowers to give to his sick girlfriend, was one of the people on blast.

OP told the parent it was not a big deal. He accused OP of being petty, so OP called his son a little Birch, which only infuriated the dad.

Another neighbor talked to OP's mom and tried to return a cutting his wife took to propagate. The plant was too damaged because the thief hacked away a quarter of the plant.

He asked for the sign to be taken down because his wife was on the board of directors of something in their town.

OP's mom told the guy to "make like a bee and buzz off." Did OP and their punny sign go too far?

OP's sign took a lot of effort. Whereas not stealing from neighbors is easy. Practically effortless.

OP could just file a police report if they think the sign was way too extreme.

If you have enough guts to steal from a neighbor's garden in broad daylight, then there shouldn't be an issue with those actions being made public.

That parent should be teaching their kid not to steal and how to be neighborly instead of getting mad at the people his son stole from.

His kid could have asked OP's mom if he could have have some flower to give to his sick girlfriend instead of stealing them.

Is there a way for the neighbors to get their photos scrubbed from the wall of shame?

That wasn't a concern for OP's mom, but she did ask for some garden-related sign offs she could say to anyone who complained about the sign.

These thieves have no respect for how much work went into the "just plants" they admired enough to steal.

Moral of the story, don't steal.

Specifically, don't steal from people who garden. They are patient with their plants and their revenge.

You can kindly ask if they could part with some cuttings and admire their gardens from afar.

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the thyme!" They shouldn't have stolen from other people's gardens if they didn't want to be given pun nicknames under their caught-in-the-act photos.

OP's account was inactive as of this writing. We couldn't say for sure how effective their sign was at deterring would-be garden thieves.

Chelsi