Prevent a plant invasion

Planning to plant some ice plant, pampas grass or a Mexican fan palm? Did you know that these are considered among the invasive plants that can become troublesome when their seed, roots or stem fragments “jump the fence” and take hold in natural areas and open spaces?

That’s the message in the Southern California version of this downloadable, eight-page brochure that provides color photos of the most common invasive, nonnative plants that are sold in nurseries. The plant categories include ground cover, ornamental grasses, shrubs, palms and other trees.

The brochure is most helpful with its lists of specific alternative plants for each category. Instead of ice plant as ground cover, try ivory star jasmine, with its dark green foliage and scented flowers, or perhaps ivy geranium, which blooms in various shades. Rather than invasive pampas grass as an ornamental, how about clumps of 3-foot-tall deer grass or wavy stands of blue oat grass?

This publication is based on a brochure by the California Invasive Plant Council, which provides an expanded list of alternative plants on its website www.cal-ipc.org.

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-- Nancy Yoshihara