Flower thief strikes three times

Jamie Hall, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Wednesday, June 25
EDMONTON - Whoever stole Maria Berardi's flowers for the third year running would be well advised to go to ground and stay there.

As Berardi herself puts it: "I'm old but I'm still in good form. And I'm Italian; you don't want to make me mad, and, believe me, I'm mad."

Three years ago, when a thief excised all the flowers from the garden beds in front of her Mill Woods home, she was angry, but philosophical.

Last year, when it happened again, she was devastated.

This year, she called the police.

With any luck, they'll find the thief before she does.

"One time is one thing, but three times? Now it's personal," said Berardi.

Thanks to Const. Carol Weir, who delivered a floral donation from the Millcreek Nursery on Tuesday, and Berardi's daughter, who showed up with a trunkful of flowers, the beds are again a growing concern. Her children are also talking about installing a strategically placed security camera at the front of the house.

But the whole thing is still a mystery.

Every year, the flowers have been removed with surgical precision, the holes left behind perfectly formed yet dug deep enough to scoop out the plants' roots. Whoever committed this horticultural crime is likely the same person and needed tools, and the time to carry it out, seemingly with the intention of replanting.

If they did, they don't live nearby; Berardi has combed her entire neighbourhood twice over, standing on tiptoe to peer over fences into people's backyards.

"These aren't vandals doing this; if it was kids they would just pull them out and throw them away," said Berardi.

"Why would someone do this?"

Except for her exotic geraniums, the flowers, for the most part, were garden-variety annuals. Berardi intentionally purchased "cheap stuff" this year, worried the thief would strike again.

Maggie Easton, the president of the Edmonton Horticultural Society, is as puzzled as Berardi by the theft.

Childish pranks notwithstanding, this isn't something she's heard about from her members.

"Maybe it's someone who doesn't want to pay the money nurseries are charging these days for flowers," Easton said.

That's Kerri Buksa's guess, too, who said this sort of theft is quite common, committed by the same type of people who siphon gas from the tanks of cars.

"The bottom line is that some people just don't want to pay," said Buksa, who works for Greenland Garden Centre.

jhall@thejournal.canwest.com