Question about calling a plant 'invasive' just because it's new

I keep seeing people in my local garden group call purple loosestrife 'invasive' in our area, but the state's plant atlas shows it's been here for over 60 years. They want to rip it all out, but it's a major food source for the bees in my yard. I checked the official county list, and it's not even listed as a noxious weed here. Why are we so quick to label a plant a problem just because it's not native? What plants in your area get a bad rap you think they don't deserve?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_kelly12d ago

Oh man, I get this. My neighbor treats my butterfly bush like it's public enemy number one (calls it invasive every time she sees it). But the thing is a total pollinator party spot all summer long. I get that some new plants can wreck an area, but if something's been settled in for decades and isn't on any official bad list, maybe we should chill? Like English ivy, sure, tear it out. But some of these plants are just... existing really well.

jessica68112d ago

Totally get this. I used to be the person yelling about pulling out all the non-natives too. Then I watched a patch of so-called invasive crown vetch on a roadside slope for years. Nothing else grew there, it stopped the dirt from washing away, and bees were all over it. It made me rethink the whole thing. Like @the_kelly said, if it's not on a list and it's helping, maybe it's just a plant doing its job.

wrenstone1d ago

My county extension office told me 60 years is long enough for a plant to be considered naturalized in an ecosystem. I stopped fighting with my garden group and just quietly stopped pulling the loosestrife that grows by my pond. The bees need it, and like @jessica681 found, sometimes these plants are holding the ground together. Why start a war over a plant that's already won and is doing more good than harm?

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