Okay, I know we don’t need more stress right now. Our gardens are our stress-relievers, our source of peace in a world of struggles. I hate to interject a “call to arms,” but attention must be paid. Gardeners, man your weed-pullers and spades!
There are strong indications that over 100 invasive plants, commonly labeled “weeds,” will be expanding into the Eastern United States. More than 30 of those species are predicted to “wreak havoc” with our native plants. This migration of weeds to the East Coast is being attributed to climate change, according to a February 2024 article from the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA). Maryland’s own Native Plant Society shares the same concern. (See: mdflora.org/aboutinvasives.html)
So, I’ll discuss first the most common and serious invasive plants threatening the eco-balance in our region. Then, I’ll review a few of the often-overlooked indigenous plants that will flourish in our gardens. Some of them may be old friends.
Invasive Plants (aka weeds)
There are six categories: aquatic plants, herbs, grasses, shrubs, trees, and vines. The list below is not exhaustive. They’re weeds with which many of us are already familiar and may even have done battle.
1. Aquatic troublemakers in our ponds and streams: not an exhaustive list: water hyacinth; water clover; chickweed; fragrant waterlily (sorry, but you’ll have to keep a close eye on those lovely waterlilies in your pond—don’t let them escape into nearby creeks and streams); arrowhead (yes, those graceful wings-on-a-stem are trouble; and loosestrife.
2. Over-zealous herbs: If you’ve ever grown herbs, you’re already well aware of the impact of these hardy plants: yarrow (all varieties); maidenhair fern (sadly, they can get out-of-hand); garlic mustard and regular mustard; wild onion and wild garlic (stick to the grocer’s offerings if you want to avoid lots of weeding); alyssum; amaranth (yup, those lovely purple tufts are trouble); columbine; and wild celery.
3. Gorgeous but strong-willed grasses: I’ve written before about the difficulty of maintaining even a single specimen of some graceful grasses; well, here’s another problem with these beauties—they sneak out when you’re not looking, like a bunch of teenagers and find themselves where they don’t belong: wheat grass (popular for planting on beaches to control erosion because they spread tenaciously); bamboo (sneaky rhizomes spread everywhere just below the surface soil—you don’t realize where it’s wandered until it’s in your lawn and flowerbeds); sedge grass; pampas grass; and Mediterranean love grass (I know they’re not used much around here, but I love the name).
4. Sneaky (i.e. invasive) shrubs: There aren’t many, but, oh, dear, they are popular little guys: Japanese laurel (oh, yes. These guys tend to be the Sumo wrestlers of the shrub world); barberry ; boxwood (those sturdy, old shrubs introduced to the Colonies by the Brits, can be troublesome when they invade! Sound familiar?); cotoneaster; forsythia (our harbingers of spring are easy to propagate and quick to spread); beautybush; and privet.
5. Avoid planting these trees: They’re not good neighbors to our native species, but the good news might be that they don’t seem to thrive here either: several varieties of maples; hawthorns; eucalyptus; and Bradford pear (don’t be charmed by its pretty, spring blossoms).
6. Vines: I know you’re probably already well aware of how quickly vines “go walking.” Kudzu immediately comes to mind: bittersweet (not including our lovely American bittersweet which we all cherish); bindweed (more likely to be the bane of farmers than urban gardeners, but sometimes they do sneak in); English ivy (yes, I know it’s a staple in my garden plan too. But we have to keep it strictly under control so it doesn’t strangle trees and overshadow native flowers); morning-glory (most varieties only become destructive if they’re left too many seasons to their own devices—chop them back occasionally; jasmine (that intoxicating fragrance makes them tough to eliminate); and wisteria (yes, I fell under this tough fella’s spell, and now I have a huge, beautiful arbor vine that dares me to keep it trimmed! And its suckers show up everywhere!)
And there you have it…some of the most unwanted invaders. But to end on a happy note, here are some lovely native or indigenous plants you might welcome into your garden.
Let’s begin with those tall, elegant showstoppers, Cardinal flowers. They’re perennial and can tolerate partial shade.
All year long you can enjoy evergreen wood fern. There are lots of subgroups, but they all have those elegant fronds in subtly different colors.
Another old favorite is the lady fern. Also an evergreen plant, its delicate fronds soften your woodland and shady garden areas.
Creeping phlox are that beautiful blooming groundcover that spills over rock walls and softens our flowerbeds. It’s a native perennial, so it will keep producing its color and fragrance year-after-year.
And finally, a personal favorite, the obedient plant. This quiet darling is just as dear as its name. With pink and lavender blossoming heads, they return season-after-season, easily adjust to moves, and stay where they’re planted—obediently.
I’m confident that we, gardeners, will do what we can, each in our own way, to support and protect nature’s beauty. We may allow some of these outcasts into our gardens, but we won’t let them overtake our native plants.
