Are you referring to the Virgin store on Michigan Avenue? Don't worry - I'm sure someone is casing the place and waiting for the right time to steal the plants, with the intention of reselling them!

Ha! Considering the company I work for does a LOT(Not the plants in question, though) of the plantings you see in Chicago, I feel obligated to respond to this thread.
For starters, I'm sure those Jap Maples are just for a temporary seasonal display. I imagine they will be removed after the fall to make room for "winter interest"
If they were intended to be permenant, than I just have to laugh. Those suckers will NOT survive the winter in a planter along Mich. Ave. If the cold doesn't get them, the salt will.
Didn't even occur to me that someone would steal them. I can say that we have never had that type of problem with our plantings.

Bellarosa, you're probably right. LOL.

mrmorton,

I came across a thread on another site where another city had planted the same trees in their medians on the highway. It must be a trend. But these two trees are not part of the "display" they're tucked into a corner of the planting and they're the only two I noticed. Maybe they just had a bare spot and wanted to fill it.