Invasive plants are still for sale in Indiana. Do something simple to stop this.

Invasive plants are still for sale in Indiana, and you can do something simple to help stop this. We’re spending millions of dollars to control invasive plants in Indiana every year, but most of those invasive plants are still for sale at your local garden shop. Good news – the DNR has drafted a rule that would make it illegal to sell all the highly invasive plants in Indiana! Bad news – that rule is now stuck in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Want to suggest to Governor Holcomb that this rule should move forward? Here’s how you can do that in just a few minutes!

Let the Governor know you want the sale of invasive plants to stop.

  • Go to http://www.in.gov/gov/2752.htm
  • Scroll down to 'Email Topic" and select the topic ‘Natural Resources, Department of’ from the drop down menu
  • Enter your contact information
  • Add the message that you would like to see the draft Terrestrial Invasive Plant Rule that makes it illegal to sell highly invasive plants in Indiana move forward.
  • Add your reasons why.
Some good reasons to add:

  • Invasive plants cost money. A 2012 survey of 120 agencies and landowners in Indiana found we spent $5.7 million to manage these species and protect our natural areas. Nationally, agricultural and control costs due to invasive plants are estimated at $15 billion per year. Each year the cost grows. And yet we continue to allow the sale of these damaging species.
  • Invasive plants hurt wildlife by crowding out the plants our native animals need for food and cover.
  • Most invasive shrubs and trees are little used by native insects. This reduces habitat for beneficial pollinators and predatory insects, as well as reducing the amount of food available for birds to feed their nestlings.
  • Invasive plants destroy habitat for rare wildflowers and animals, threatening two-thirds of all endangered species.
  • Invasive plants can become weedy in a home garden, crowding out other landscaping.
  • Invasive plants can also decrease your ability to enjoy hunting, fishing, mushroom collecting, bird-watching, and many other recreational pursuits by crowding forest floors and choking waterways.
  • Tell your story of the invasive plants you are fighting to control, and why it is important to you that invasive plants not be sold in Indiana.
  • Hit Submit. You’re done!

Invasive Plants Covered by This Rule:

• Carduus acanthoides ( spiny plumeless thistle).
• Phellodendron amurense (Amur cork tree).
• Polygonum perfoliatum (mile-a-minute vine).
• Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallow-wort).
• Vincetoxicum rossicum (pale swallow-wort).
• Achyranthes japonica (Japanese chaff flower).
• Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven).
• Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard).
• Alnus glutinosa (black alder).
• Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort).
• Arthraxon hispidus (small carpgrass).
• Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry).
• Carduus nutans (musk thistle).
• Celastrus orbiculatus (Asian bittersweet).
• Centaurea stoebe (spotted knapweed).
• Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle).
• Conium maculatum (poison hemlock).
• Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed).
• Coronilla varia (crown vetch).
• Dioscorea polystachya (oppositifolia) (Chinese yam).
• Dipsacus fullonum (common teasel).
• Dipsacus laciniatus (cut-leaved teasel).
• Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive).
• Euonymus fortunei (wintercreeper).
• Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge).
• Frangula alnus (glossy buckthorn).
• Humulus japonicus (Japanese hops).
• Hesperis matronalis (dame’s rocket).
• Lespedeza cuneata (sericea lespedeza).
• Lepidium latifolium (pepperweed).
• Ligustrum obtusifolium (blunt leaved privet).
• Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle).
• Lonicera maacki (Amur honeysuckle).
• Lonicera morrowii (Morrow’s honeysuckle).
• Lonicera tatarica (Tatarian honeysuckle).
• Lonicera x bella (Bell’s honeysuckle).
• Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass).
• Morus alba (white mulberry).
• Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass).
• Phragmites australis subspecies australis (common reed).
• Reynoutria japonica (Japanese knotweed).
• Reynoutria sachalinensis (giant knotweed).
• Reynoutria x bohemica (Bohemian knotweed).
• Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn).

Thanks for your help!