Re: Threat 4 plant lovers/collectors(Please Read)

---

This type of regulation has been "proposed" by one group or another for thirty years or more but nothing ever comes of it.  The RUMORS (and sometimes downright hysteria), on the other hand, ebb and flow like the tides.  I subscribe to a couple different watchdog groups and have heard of nothing currently in Congress regarding the importation plants.   Just because someone posts it on the Web and makes it sound serious doesn't give it any credibility -- "It's in print so it must be true" is a myth everyone should have gotten over long ago!

 

As to Heronswood's decision to not sell certain plants to certain states, if a person actually READS their catalogue they'll see the wisdom in the "restricted" plants.  Many other nurseries besides Heronswood have stopped selling Lythrum altogether.  The plants being restricted by Heronswood have already demonstrated their invasive properties, it's not based on random speculation.  If someone wants to create a hysteria because people in Florida can't buy porcelain vine or Lythrum from Heronswood anymore, they perhaps need to take a chill-pill -- or maybe they should stick with Michigan Bulb as their primary nursery source. 

 

It's interesting that, on one hand, people will complain about ground ivy, Queen Anne's lace, honeysuckle bush, kudzu or some other invasive non-native, but then they'll cry "Too much regulation!" when someone says "You know, porcelain vine in warm climates has demonstrated the potential to be the next kudzu."  There are a million other plants available out there which a person can grow in their gardens, pick one of those.

 

Dean Sliger

Warren, Michigan, USA

Zone 6B