Spring is underway in northern Michigan. Trillium cover hillsides. Dutchman’s britches are hanging from slender stems. Jacks-in-the-pulpit are opening up.
As a child in Detroit, I never saw these spring flowers, but I did see lots of lilacs, forsythia and daffodils.
It’s easy to understand why we plant these colorful early-blooming non-natives. After a long, gray winter, we want color—the sooner the better!
When I got older and started making my own plant choices, I preferred plants that spread like wildfire! Day lilies, myrtle, honeysuckle! Ignore them and, in a few years, they’ll cover your yard.
It never occurred to me to wonder whether a plant was native or not and what impact that would have on the ecosystem.
Some years ago, a friend said she was going to spend the weekend pulling garlic mustard. I asked why. She explained that it was non-native and invasive. As tactfully as I could, I asked if that wasn’t a bit futile since it was already established throughout the state. She replied, “But I can eliminate it from my property.”
Fast forward a few years. I bought a house with about an acre of woods. Many of the plants were not familiar to me, but one in particular stood out for its unusual leaves. Turns out it was non-native mugwort. It seemed harmless.
But by the second summer, I saw that it had already spread into the woods. I realized it would crowd out the yellow trout lily and trillium. And then I understood why my friend wanted to eradicate the garlic mustard on her property.
I got an app for my phone, learned to recognize invasives and became a weed warrior, nurturing the native plants and removing the non-natives.
In spring, I like to get out every day to see which plants have emerged. If you blink, you can miss the whole season.
