Well I would get the Iris division before the new tenants move in and if you feel guilty about taking a whole amaryllis look for ones with babies that 'need separating anyway' and nurture them. :) So long as you don't effect the landscape you should be fine.

Oh, but be sure and wait until she leaves to take back anything you gave her, just for good measure. :D

If she really offered what you want, I would try to make sure one more time that you can really have what you want, and then take what you want. I say this because unless it so happens that the new tenants really appreciate plants, they will not be cared for, dug up, etc. i've seen neighbors with beautiful roses, for example, and the new people buthcher them , let the weeds take over, etc.
Do the plants a favor and take them. in the Unlikely event the new people are plant nuts, offer them some. Thats what I would do, anyway.

Be sure to get them BEFORE she leaves so no one will think you are trespassing and stealing them from a vacant house. I gather that the house still belongs to the owner who had leased it to the nurse, so you should check with him/her before taking anything other than what the tenant planted herself. When you are ready to do the digging, you might call her and ask if this is a good time and maybe take her a little gift (a loaf of homemade bread?). Tell her that you will be happy to give her divisions of anything later when she is ready to settle down somewhere. If she loves plants, I can't imagine that she doesn't love to share them and is happy that someone else appreciates what she loves.

I agree you should take what you want as long as it doesn't mess up the landscape. Catbird has a great idea in offering her a little gift of appreciation. Most plant people love to share their plants and I don't think you should feel bad about asking, or about taking a few things if she offered.

On a side note, my dad grew up being told it was bad luck to ask or offer, that plants had to be "stolen" to thrive. In his little south Alabama town, people would say "hope no one comes by and gets a piece of that ((whatever))plant" And the knowing neighbor would say "Just so long as they take care of it, they can have it" Kind of silly, I guess, but a memory that makes my dad smile.

haley, it seems like you have the right idea. Take a little sampling of what has been offered you; I would do it while the tenant is still there. Try to do it in such a fashion that the landscape doesn't look 'robbed', which I know you will. There is no reason for you to feel like you are overstepping the boundaries of good etiquette. This is a GOOD thing!

Taking plants or plant parts without permission is another story altogether, whether it be an empty rental site, a woodland hiking trail, or a surreptitious cutting snatched from a garden center/botanical garden/park.

I think her offer sounds sincere. She went way beyond what you had asked about and extended the offer to other plants. I think the suggestion above to reciprocate the offer to 'share back' with her after she gets settled is spot-on. I bet she's hoping that will happen, and she may have had this in mind when she made her offer. Either way, I'm sure she'd be happier knowing 'her' plants will be appreciated by someone she knows.

Thanks for the advice everyone! When I got home from work last night, she was outside and came over to chat for a few minutes and let me and DH know that she was moving this weekend and that the new tenants are moving in a week or two. She renewed her offer for me to take whatever, especially since she had showed the house to the lady who is moving in and was telling her about different plants and said that the lady didn't seem to show any interest whatsoever since she has little kids. My neighbor said that she liked the fact that they were going to a good home and was even more generous than she has already been and said that when she comes back to visit in a few months (her adult kids live nearby) that she would bring me some more divisions of her dad's irises (apparently he has quite a collection). I am just blown away by her generosity. Maybe by the time she comes back to visit, she will be able to take some divisions of my plants (and some of her plants) back with her :)

I really hate that she can't take her plants with her to her parents' house, especially since so many of them came from her patients' gardens (she's a hospice nurse). I hope that she will have time to tell me about each of them when I go to get divisions later this week. I brought her some large boxes and we offered to help her load up, but I will make sure to bring her some cookies or something when I go over.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! :)

haley45, are you still on here? Curious whatever happened...