National Invasive Species Awareness Week – Burning Bush

Burning Bush, Euonymus alatus, doesn’t stand out as a particularly pretty shrub right now.

The tiny white flowers aren’t anything exciting.

But then autumn comes…

This plant is HOT for gardeners who want showy fall color. The name…get it? And yes, the birds do eat the berries produced by those tiny flowers…and spread them.

And spread them.

This entire patch of forest has an understory of only Burning Bush. For a while, plant enthusiasts planted Burning Bush extensively, not realizing how invasive this native from Asia is. In fact, a number of different Euonymus plants are now spreading in North America. Please learn to recognize the young plants and remove them.

We’ve reached the last day of National Invasive Species Awareness Week.

Unfortunately, we have not reached the end of invasive species. There are many more. Know what plants you are buying at nurseries or being offered by well-meaning friends. If something grows ‘incredibly well here,’ then that’s suspicious. Look the plant up online. Check several sources. (One we checked for Bush Honeysuckle made no mention of it being invasive or that it’s on numerous ‘prohibited to plant’ lists.) Check local arboretums, extensions services and park websites.

Or best, go too www.Invasive.org.

Thanks! We squirrels appreciate you humans keeping nature natural…becasue some of us wildlife are tempted by new berries way too much!