The thing about invasive species is once they come into your field of vision, specific plants and their intrusive tendencies identified, they are all you can see. Look across a field of summer grasses, milkweed and other late season pollinator host plants, and it is the buckthorn, barberry or bittersweet that crowds out everything else.
Because that is what they do — dominate the native plant landscape — and getting a handle on them means a hand’s-on approach. Which isn’t to say that all invasives are unattractive. Purple loosestrife is the perfect example of an invasive with a pretty face.
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