A gardener shopping at a local farmers market purchased a plant that was advertised as a native, only to discover that it was not native and was in fact an invasive species.
They took to the subreddit r/NativePlantGardening to ask for advice on what to do with the plant, which turned out to be Brazilian verbena.
“I didn't look at the tag carefully. [it was a] “I purchased a nursery of native plants from the farmers market,” they wrote, “and am extremely disappointed to find this being sold by what I thought was a reliable source.”
“If a dealer says they only sell native plants, [vervain] “This is a scam,” one commenter said.
The poster continued: “According to the agricultural extension website, it is a 'weed' and 'considered invasive by some sources.' Does anyone have personal experience with this plant?”
Commenters offered a variety of opinions.
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“The plant grows wild here too, but not as abundantly as the native plants. … I leave some where they come from and pull out any excess seedlings or those that have grown in awkward places,” one person wrote.
“It's a great plant that attracts butterflies, but in your area you should probably pick off the flowers. Normally it doesn't survive the winter where I live in zone 6, but it has recently made it through. We've had two mild winters in a row and need to pull out the seedlings,” advised another user.
“They were planted on purpose and now I've been trying to remove them for four years,” lamented one person.
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Even for an experienced gardener like me, it can be difficult to accurately identify all the plants, especially when they are misleadingly named or displayed next to native species, and the dangers of planting invasive species cannot be overstated.
A common feature of invasive species is that they grow exponentially faster than native species and can take over an entire garden or woodland in a short period of time. Often, invasive species grow beyond property lines and sometimes even through walls.
And they're not just a nuisance, they're costly: roughly 3,500 geographically invasive species cost the global economy $423 billion each year, not to mention the time and effort it takes to maintain flower beds, as in the OP's situation.
One way to keep invasive species out of your yard is to use the National Wildlife Federation's Native Plant Finder, which lists native species you can grow if you want to rewild your yard.
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