|
image from publicdomainpictures.com Morning. Clouds are moving out and we will have sun today. Temperature will be good and high today of 44F(6C) stay warm, enjoy and stay safe I just got back in and the plugs arrived. I was looking for them all day yesterday, but the driver said they came out of the truck this morning. I opened one box and they looked fine. Job this afternoon is unpacking them and checking them over.
Australia family and friends for Feb 27th Friday will have 76F(24C) and looks like rain in their forecast. Stay dry, stay cool, stay safe. It looks like I am posting things that you shouldn’t do. Here are some invasive plants to not plant. I remember years ago, I had bought the chameleon plant thinking it would be a great plant for the shade. Never realizing what it did. Now I do, and I will not have it here to sell again. Sorry to the gardeners that tried it and found out. Invasive Plants to Avoid in Your Garden (+ Native Alternatives) It may look pretty but looks are deceiving. We now know that the cheap, stinky invasive Bradford pear tree crowds out native plants. Written By: Robin Sweetser I am always amazed when I see known invasives being sold at garden centers, online, and in catalogs. Here are silent invaders you should never bring home to grow in your yard—plus, some substitute plants to grow instead. Common Invasive Plants Autumn Olive Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) is often sold in wildlife packages or for erosion control. Birds do love their berries, which is one way they spread. Able to grow rapidly in sun and shade, their roots alter the soil chemistry around them to keep other plants from germinating nearby, and they outcompete and quickly displace native species. Substitute plants: Native ninebark (Physocarpus) or Viburnum both offer colorful fall foliage and berries for birds and other wildlife. Bishop’s Weed Bishop’s weed (Aegopodium podagraria), also known as goutweed, is my archenemy. The variegated leaf type was growing on my property when we moved in 38 years ago, and even though we mow it and pull it up, it still comes back. I am always appalled when I see it for sale. It is quite pretty, grows in sun or shade, and is totally bulletproof, so I can understand why people buy it. Don’t! The extremely invasive green type keeps making its way from my neighbor’s house via seeds the birds drop. I spend a lot of time every spring and summer digging up its brittle roots, which tend to snap off. Leaving even a tiny piece behind causes it to resprout soon after. We have tried smothering large sections of it with black plastic, but it manages to return. They say the only way to be rid of it is to move! Substitute plants: Native foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) or wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) for shady areas. Bradford Pear Ugh! It may look pretty, but the awful Bradford pear (Pyrus calleriana)—also called Callery pear—has been sold widely as a cheap ornamental landscape tree. Even though it is self-sterile, it can cross-pollinate with other types of callery pears, and those offspring have proven to be invasive, escaping to forest areas, dominating the landscape, and shading out all other growth. Substitute plants: They are such a problem in South Carolina that Clemson University offers up to 5 free native replacement trees—including oaks, maples, hornbeam, river birch, and magnolia—to homeowners who cut down their Bradford pears. More substitute plants include native dogwood, redbud, and serviceberry. All The Bradford (Callery) Pear invasion. If you have this tree, many cities have buy-back programs. Chameleon Plant Many plants we’re attracted to buying are beautiful. The chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata) is no exception. Native to Southeast Asia, this ground cover has very attractive, multi-colored leaves and, like many ground covers, spreads by underground rhizomes—fast! If you try to weed it out, those brittle rhizomes break, and any scrap left behind will just resprout, similar to bishop’s weed. It grows in sun or shade and likes moist soil. Substitute plants: Native heuchera, tiarella, or a showy hybrid of the two called heucherella. From https://www.almanac.com/10-invasive-plants Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected] 641-794-3337 cell 641-903-9365 Beckysgreenhouse.com Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s Greenhouse
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi! My name is Becky and I am a Master Gardener. I own Becky's Greenhouse in Dougherty, Iowa. Archives
February 2026
Categories |

RSS Feed