Leafy larceny: $500 house plant goes missing from Alberta garden centre

Blue Grass Garden Centre Calgary reached out to the public Wednesday night about their missing Thai Constellation Monstera, a plant that retails for $499.99. (Supplied/Blue Grass)

A garden centre located just north of Calgary is thanking the public for information on a suspect who they say stole a $500 house plant from their shelves and says police have been contacted.

Blue Grass Garden Centre, located in Rocky View County, posted about the incident that took place earlier this month.

"On Thursday, May 4, we had a theft occur at our Garden Centre," staff said in the post. "A lady came into our store and left twice with two different bags containing plants."

On the second occasion, workers said the suspect got away with a rare and expensive product – an eight-inch Thai Constellation Monstera.

Blue Grass says the tropical plant retails for $499.99.

Manager Lisa Silva told CTV News in an interview on Thursday she reached out on social media about the theft because she knows about the strong horticulture community in the area.

"There are avid greenhouse groups in Calgary," she said, adding within a short time of posting, they had received a number of tips leading them to identify the person involved.

"She had the plant posted for sale on her Facebook marketplace page," Silva said.

WHAT MAKES IT SO PRICEY?

Some may question the cost of such a small houseplant, but Silva says the high price is associated with how difficult it is to acquire one.

"They're just one that are really, really hard to get," she said.

"Tropical plants exploded during COVID and a lot of them come from the Philippines, so they are hard to get a hold of."

The plant's unique look also adds to its value, Silva said.

"People love variegated plants and ones with different colours."

While the plant is still missing, she says she's forwarded all the information, including details about the suspect, to RCMP.

(Supplied/Blue Grass)

Silva thanks the public for coming forward to help them out.

"It means a lot to us that the community supports us as a small local business. We don't have a large corporation backing us," she said.

She says staff are discussing any possible ways to improve security, but no firm plans have been made.

"We're trying to figure out what to do. It's not often we have a really expensive plant go missing."

RCMP have opened a file into the incident and are investigating.