{"id":12819,"date":"2024-07-10T14:01:07","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T18:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fromh2h.com\/?p=12819"},"modified":"2024-11-23T01:14:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T06:14:50","slug":"invasive-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fromhousetohome.com\/garden\/invasive-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"Beautiful Invasive Plants You Do Not Want In Your Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These invasive plants are all beautiful so you will be tempted to plant them in your garden. Find out which invasive species are not worth the hassle.<\/p>\n\n\n

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If you’ve been gardening for a while, you have probably come across some plants that try to overtake your garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I have (unintentionally) planted a few invasive plants over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they add so much more work to the gardening process! \u00a0So now I’m very careful about choosing plants that are better behaved. (If you read my post on low maintenance gardening<\/a>, you know\u00a0that even though I love my garden, I also don’t want to spend all of my free time working in it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They other problem with invasive species is that most of them can easily escape your garden. When they set up shop in a natural habitat, they really cause a lot of damage to the native ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the most beautiful invasive plants you do not want in your garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whether or not these (or any other) plants will become invasive in your garden depends on the growing conditions in your area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plants on this list can all be found on invasive plants lists maintained by state and university extension programs. Which means they have the potential to become invasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you live in an area where the growing conditions are not favorable for the plants, they may not cause any problems…or may not grow at all \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re not sure how a plant will behave in your area, talk to your local nursery and other gardeners in your neighborhood to find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or check the Invasive Plant Atlas for North America<\/a>, which provides maps of where different varieties of plants are considered to be invasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1 | Purple Loosestrife\u00a0(Lythrum salicaria)<\/i><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)<\/i> is a very hardy perennial that spreads easily and can choke out a natural wetland (or field) very quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The density of the shoots kills all other plants in its path, which is why it is on many invasive species lists across North America (and has even been banned in some places).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cooper Marsh Purple Loosestrife By Saffron Blaze (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This picture of the Cooper Marsh Conservation Area in Ontario, Canada shows just how invasive it can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garden varieties of Loosestrife are still for sale in some places, and are sometimes included in wildflower seed packets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since these can cross-polinate with wild varieties to create seeds, make sure to double-check what you are buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 | Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)<\/i><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I have never actually planted Japanese Honeysuckle, but I do have first hand experience with how invasive it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of it is growing wild in the ravine behind my house and it is impossible to keep under control. I actually think it\u00a0is worse than the kudzu (and if you live in a location where kudzu grows, you know how invasive it is).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Honeysuckle has white and yellow flowers that are really pretty, and it smells wonderful when it is blooming.  But it is definitely not worth the trade off of trying to keep it from strangling all other living plants!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it escapes into the wild (as it inevitably seems to do), it is devastating to the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n