Invasives vs vigorous plants (Was:Re: Concern for us collectors(Please Read)/ Diann)

Gene, there's another distinction that is getting lost in this discussion.
That is, plants that have the potential to take over your yard vs. plants
that have the potential to escape from cultivation and outcompete natives
in the wild on a large scale. Maybe that's the difference between
"invasive"  and "vigorous."  A plant that spreads rampantly in your yard is
vigorous...Plants like purple loosestrife or kudzu or banana poke in Hawaii
that have altered entire ecosystems are invasive.

It is the nurserymen like yourself and Dan who have to have the skills and
perception to know the difference, not we gardeners. It is your
responsibility to determine which plants are potential threats and it is
our responsibility to listen to you and then not become agents of
destruction by growing them.

No, I don't want the USDA to tell me which plants I can grow or not grow,
but if nurserymen are not responsible enough to stop selling the stuff and
gardeners are not responsible enough to stop growing the stuff, then maybe
some regulation *is* needed.

Gerry (ducking and covering)



At 05:35 PM 8/3/00 -0400, you wrote:
  Invasive? you decide. I have them here and they have not taken over the
>garden as yet.
>    On the "invasive" versus "vigorous" we are back where we started on this.
>There is no way to tell all gardeners all over the U.S. that a plant will
>definitely be one or the other. Dividing line is also pretty fine here.
You may
>"want" an invasive in some situations.. such as an embankment that washes out
>continually. There is a place in nature and gardens for these types of
plants or
>they would not have evolved to fill the niche. My suggestion is when you
read the
>word vigorous, do your homework before ordering and then if you choose to go
>ahead... keep an eye on its performance.
>    The previous owner who used ivy probably worked hard to get that stuff
all
>over the place... see, they wanted it.. It is you who does not... now that
it is
>there. Differing perceptions of the same area by different gardeners.
>    No easy answers.. if there are "answers"
>    Gene Bush     Southern Indiana    Zone 6a     Munchkin Nursery
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