In a time where shrinking budgets don’t always allow for amenities such as flowers and updated landscape, one Washington, D.C. citizen has been taking matters into his own hands.
This past June, Henry Docter, AKA the “Phantom Planter,” donated more than a thousand plants, which he safely tucked into flower boxes at the city’s Dupont Circle subway station.
The morning glories, cardinal flowers, and cypress vines, graced travelers with their presence for two weeks until Metro’s Art in Transit program had them forcefully removed.
Despite its previous comments to take the public’s opinions into account, the organization had workers remove and destroy the plants – simply because they were donated and planted without permission. (Though inconsistent maintenance reports have been stated in certain interviews.)
D.C. citizens are unhappy about the unnecessary plant removal, making public statements and bashing the decision. The Phantom Planter, however, said he remains optimistic. With more than three decades of stealthy gardening under his belt, he’s sticking to his art form and looking for the next unsuspecting landscape.