Its odd that they didn't include Ailanthus altissima, Morus alba and Morus
rubra in the list. They are probably the most weedy and invasive of all.


"David Hershey" wrote in message
om...
"Cereus-validus" wrote in message
. com...
The more immediate problem is that highly invasive Bush currently
residing
in the White House. Are there any pesticides that you would recommend
for
its immediate removal? Can we survive four more years of that wacky weed
and
the damage in its wake? The dude is crazy enough to boast of a booming
real
estate market. He forgets to mention its because scores of Americans are
losing their homes because they are unemployed in the current recession
because big business is sending their jobs overseas to low paid
laborers.

Only a kook would disapprove of the annual cherry blossom festival in
DC.
Its a rather tame event and the flowering cherries are sterile hybrids
and
not a threat to national security in any way.

Regarding the total lack of imagination of North Americans and their
poor
choice of favorite plants, four states and the District of Columbia have
roses as their official flower, two states have the apple blossom, and
others have the camellia, carnation, crocus, lilac, orange blossom,
peach
blossom or peony. None of them are native.


"David Hershey" wrote in message
om...
(Iris Cohen) wrote in message
...
The annual Washington D.C. Japanese cherry blossom festival is a
good
example. An equally spectacular display could be had with American
native trees such as dogwoods and redbuds.

Not a good example. The cherry trees were a gift from Japan. We
could
hardly
have turned them down. And they are certainly not invasive, that I
know
of.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the
oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

This is classic example of taking something out of context. Here is
the complete paragraph:

"If federal or state governments wanted to demonstrate leadership in
the area of invasive ornamental plants, they would require that all
new trees and shrubs used to landscape government properties are U.S.
natives. American native plants don't get much respect in the USA, and
planting native plants is not widely considered patriotic. Europeans
often seem to appreciate American flora more than Americans. The
annual Washington D.C. Japanese cherry blossom festival is a good
example. An equally spectacular display could be had with American
native trees such as dogwoods and redbuds."


I never stated or implied that the Washington D.C. Japanese cherry
trees were invasive or a threat to national security. Iris took my
words out of context. I was using the Japanese cherry trees as an
example of how the government urges people to plant native species,
but then doesn't follow its own advice.

The cherry blossom festival is a "tame event" as you say but its
history has been misrepresented. The story of the cherry trees as a
gift of friendship from Japan was overblown as I posted previously.
The Japanese destroyed any American-Japanese friendship less then
thirty years after the trees were planted.

The original thread noted that the National Park Service lists
butteryfly bush (Buddleja spp.) as an invasive species.

http://www.invasive.org/eastern/midatlantic/budd.html

However, I know of one recently opened Washington D.C. metro station
with an extensive planting of butterfly bush. Even government agencies
are not on the same page. Many of the ornamental plants the National
Park Service and other federal agenices list as invasive are very
common landscape plants even on government properties. Their invasives
list for the eastern U.S. includes the following:

Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford' (Bradford pear)
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Albizia julibrissin (mimosa)
Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian olive)
Paulownia tomentosa (princesstree)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Euonymus alata (winged burning bush)
Ligustrum japonicum (Japanese privet)
Ligustrum vulgare (European privet)
Nandina domestica (sacred bamboo)
Spiraea japonica (Japanese spiraea)
Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria)

The complete list is he
http://www.invasive.org/eastern/index.html

Yoshino cherries are not sterile according to Michael Dirr's Manual of
Woody Landscape Plants, 3rd edition, which says the seeds germinate in
two months.

David R. Hershey