I have been getting many calls about plants the experts consider non-native and invasive.  Therefore, I thought I would reprint this article I wrote after visiting a home with a beautiful specimen tree in its backyard.  It was prized by the homeowner because it exhibited unusual rough, fissured bark, highly branched limbs, dangling yellow flower spikes, and lustrous dark-green, heart-shaped leaves.  Also, later on in the fall its small clusters of three-lobed fruit split to reveal unusual popcorn like seed.

   I tried to explain to the homeowner that this tree (Chinese tallow tree
or popcorn tree) is listed as a "Nonnative Invasive Plant" by the USDA
Forest Service but, as sometimes happens to us all, "he was blinded by
beauty."  Many nonnative invasive plants have certain desirable
characteristics but owners beware.  Because of their invasive nature
these plants multiply rapidly, out-compete native plants, and are trying
to take over the world.  Don't be deceived by the lacy foliage of the
Mimosa tree, the showy flowers of the Princess tree (Paulownia), the
sweet smelling flowers and beautiful fall color of the Chinaberry tree,
the silvery foliage of   Elaeagnus, the bright-red fall color of Burning Bush, or the beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers of   Privet. Also, let's overlook the beautiful flowers and fruit of Japanese honeysuckles, the red glistening fruit of the Nandina, the natural appeal of the Multiflora rose, the scarlet seed of the Bittersweet, the cannonball shaped fruit of the Air Potato (Yam), the scrambling nature and violet flowers of the Periwinkle, the lustrous leaves of the English Ivy, and last but not least the lavender waterfalls of the Asian wisterias.

   Having these plants is like having "A Lion by the Tail" or like I say "A Three-legged Dog."  My three-legged dog incident started one Sunday
after church.  A friend of my wife was out of town and asked us to let
her dog(s) out.  As I opened the back door of this up-scale home two
dogs scampered out.  One was dusk-mop type dog which I expected.  The
other was kind of a scraggly three-legged dog which seemed a little out
of place.  Maybe they felt sorry for the dog and loved its three legs.
When I called the dogs back inside the dusk-mop dog scampered right back inside, but the three-legged dog ran down the neighborhood.  Had I lost the dog they loved? I chased that dog all over the neighborhood;
finally got him pinned, dragged him all the way back, stuck him inside,
and locked the door.  Thank goodness he was three-legged or I would
still be chasing him.  The short of it was "IT WAS NOT THEIR DOG."  They
had left their garage door up a few inches, the door inside cracked, and
this three-legged dog snuck inside.  He messed-up their entire house and
I assisted.
The moral of the story is "Please don't help these nonnative invasive
plants mess-up our forests."

   Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.  If you enjoy gardening and using flowers and plants in decorations, please watch Down Home with Tony and Amanda on Thursday nights at 8:00 pm on the SC Channel (ETV's digital station). If you don't get that channel, you can go to www.mig.org , select streaming video, and scroll down to where our shows are archived.