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I'm particularly sensitive to this as a native plant nerd here in Hawaii. Home Depot and Walmart are filled with (beautiful) invasive plants like Medinilla magn

I'm particularly sensitive to this as a native plant nerd here in Hawaii. Home Depot and Walmart are filled with (beautiful) invasive plants like Medinilla magnifica, Kahili ginger, Lantana, so many others. I've spoken to the managers about it from time to time but nothing changes. I used to work at a botanical garden here on Hawaii Island that boasted of their 6 different species of Medinilla, even selling a fridge magnet in the gift shop. I tried and tried to explain how backwards this was and how these magnets would be viewed by anyone who knew or cared about fragile native ecosystems. Their response always came down to something like "but these ones are prettier." They also sold little bagged starts of two horribly invasive plants! (Bamboo orchid and Kahili ginger)

RosanaAnaDana 5y ago
On oahu the two biggest issues I see are with field bind weed and Acacia confusa, but I am dry side. Neither are horticulture atrocities, but t hff they are problems nonetheless. There really is no excuse for HD to continue to sell these high invasibility plants. States and local governments should be able to sue suppliers like HD for damages considering the millions that it costs to control these plants once they escape. If I see Andean pampas grass at a home depot again, I might have a problem.
quercus 5y ago
Hawaii's "fragile native ecosystems" exist only in your fantasies of the past, or way up in the mountains where nobody lives or farms. If Medinilla wants to invade an Albizia grove, who cares?