Those maple trees are everywhere in the north west. Pretty much a landscaping staple. I had a girlfriend at one time that had a nice backyard but wasn't that bright. The plants were vegging on the back porch and she let the neighbors come over to mow the lawn. On my way home when she excitedly told me they were mowing the lawn, I asked what she did with the plants. Silence. "God damn it, you mean the plants are on the fucking deck and they are mowing the lawn!!!" Well, when I got there they were still busy and when they went to empty the bag back at their house, I snatched the 4 plants and quickly replaced them with pots with cut branches of Japanese maple. I quickly went back inside and when I looked out they were looking at the pots closely. I went out to thank them for mowing the lawn and to to see their reaction and before I said anything he laughed to himself and said "that's funny, I thought it was something different." We then chatted about shit and he went along his merry way.
The sad part is that the relationship went sour right when they began to flower. They were too big to move so I tried to endure as long as I could. Eventually I couldn't take it any longer and had to sacrifice the plants to get the hell out.