Scouring community web forums in the city's more residential neighborhoods, one particular scourge repeatedly rears its ugly head. That societal menace is, of course, succulent theft.
City dwellers responsible enough to forgo lawns and feature front yards full of water-sipping, climate-apropos flora have been preyed upon by miscreants hacking off parts of their succulent plants or making off with large potted specimens entirely.
This "happened to me for the past 10 years," bemoaned a Sunnyside resident. He went to extreme lengths to prevent these incursions: "As soon as I got HD night vision cameras it stopped."
Alex Friedman, a nursery buyer at Sloat Garden Center, confirmed that the store's supply of succulents is often pilfered as well. A pirated cutting can take root within two weeks and fetch $10 or $20 or more at a flea market. A giant succulent plant may be worth hundreds of dollars.
Short of HD cameras, Friedman suggests securing desirable succulents like aeoniums behind a protective wall of opuntias. "Those look fuzzy," she explains. "But they're actually itty bitty stickers."
The downside is that curious children will be essentially grabbing onto a cactus. "I have seen kids cry," Friedman admits.
Wounded kiddies, it seems, may be the price of succulent vigilance.
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