In the May Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) Bulletin, an article discussed "invasive native plants" and warned that these plants should be just as discouraged from use in gardens and landscape projects as invasive alien plants are. In my opinion, concerns about native plants taking over the environment may border on the hysterical.

In truth, the only reason that these plants are "invasive" plants is because there is lack of management. Just as surely as a mossy yard tells a knowledgeable person that the owner is not applying lime, a so-called invasive-plant problem tells a knowledgeable person that the owner is not doing his or her gardening!

There are very few plants that reproduce as rapidly as folks believe invasives do. This faulty perception is the result of people's lack of awareness. It only seems as if a field becomes a forest of autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) or a yard a mass of common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) overnight. The truth is that these plants come up here and there and no one pays any heed to them until there are so many that they can not be missed by even the unobservant. In a yard or field that is properly managed (i.e. "weeded" as desired), these plants do not get out of hand. If they do, it is because someone has not kept on top of things.

Getting rid of a trumpet creeper vine because of its "invasive" nature, as was suggested in the article, is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Instead of getting rid of this plant that is a wonderful native wildlife plant, simply tend the garden! The few trumpet creeper seedlings that come up each year should be pulled out. Gardeners know that this effort comes with the territory.

Of course trumpet creeper "doesn't want to stay put". The whole point of a plant producing flowers is to reproduce itself, which means it will spread. If you want to grow truly native plants (rather than sterile cultivars that are useless for wildlife and therefore environmentally bad), you should expect a plant to spread! And because any plant that grows where it is not wanted is a weed, even planted flowers can soon become weeds. Unfortunately, as soon as folks have to expend energy on something, such as weeding out plants, they decide there is a problem even though none exists as far as the natural world is concerned.

Just because a plant is a native "invasive" doesn't mean it's necessarily "harmful". A plant doing what comes naturally should not be considered harmful just because it means work for the gardener. Instead, the gardener should think of having to weed, which causes physical exertion on the part of the gardener, as being a good thing because it helps to keep him or her healthy.

Lastly, thank goodness there are plants that do thrive in the disturbed areas that man creates. Otherwise our roadsides would be nothing but dirt. However, if you look closely along roadsides, you might be surprised by how often there really are diverse plant communities. Are they "stable"? Of course not! Nothing is stable in nature. The whole idea of succession is instability!

Calling native plants "aggressive" and worrying about their seeds being "spread by birds or wash[ing] down-stream to establish themselves in a suitable disturbed habitat" is human folly. People need to accept the reality of nature and to learn to live in agreement with it. Far too often, humans instead want to somehow be master over nature and to make it work the way that is easiest or most desirable for them. Thus people misuse pesticides trying to have "specimen" plants, and they kill needlessly those animals that they fear (such as snakes). This "mastery of nature" mentality has helped create many of the world's environmental problems.

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North Carolina State University