I have enjoyed a long career in horticulture, as an employee in the industry, as a widely published author of numerous gardening books and magazine articles, and as a garden designer.  I once promoted and planted in gardens many of the vines, shrubs, and groundcovers that I now see everywhere strangling our forests and smothering our fields and fencerows.  Although I mourn the plants I know I should no longer grow in gardens because of their invasive qualities, I realize that the health of our natural world depends upon eliminating them from our natural areas and gardens. Invasive exotic plants (“noxious weeds” according to VDACS),  most of which escaped from home gardens or agricultural fields, are destroying the beauty and economic potential of Virginia’s natural resources in local and national parks, private and commercial lands. This is an environmental tragedy that is growing exponentially.

Many other beautiful plants, both native and non-aggressive exotics, offer beautiful substitutes for the bad actors, so any garden or nursery industry professional who claims he must grow, sell or plant a specific species is being self-serving and lacks imagination. As disappointing as it is to a gardener to limit his garden plant palette, stopping the sale of invasives is an absolute necessity.

It makes no sense to limit the label “noxious weed” only to plants that are not yet widely disseminated. A landowner or park authority could spend countless hours and dollars attempting to eradicate the widely-disseminated plants not categorized as a noxious weed only to have a neighboring property owner plant those same species where they can once again invade the cleaned-up property. This is plainly folly.  As they are written, the new regulations adopted by VDACS for controlling “noxious weeds” does not address this problem. I strongly believe that the list of noxious weeds must contain the entire list of invasive plants published by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreations’ Natural Heritage Division – these are the professionals whose opinion we must respect and trust – and if necessary, the law that governs the regulations must be changed so this list can become the law.