Native Plants

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Wednesday - August 15, 2007
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Disposal of non-native invasive clerodendron
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
What do you do about clerodendron that is spreading like wildfire. A friend gave me one plant before I was acquainted with invasives!!ANSWER:
There are several species of clerodendron or glorybower, Clerodendrum sp., and I'm not sure which one you have. None of them is native to the continental United States (there is one, Clerodendrum aculeatum, native to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands). C. bungei (rose gloryblower) appeared on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's 1999 List of Florida's Most Invasive Species as a Category II species ("Species that have shown a potential to disrupt native plant communities"). It has not appeared on subsequent Florida lists, however. C. chinense, (stickbush), C. japonicum (sweet Japanese glorybower), C. macrostegium (velvetleaf glorybower) and several other Clerodendrum species appear on the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk (HEAR) Project's "Alien species in Hawaii" list. No species of Clerodendrum appear in the TEXASINVASIVES.org database, but since it is aggressive it sounds like something you need and want to control. Even though Mr. SP doesn't know exactly which species you have, the advice is going to be the same. You need to cut down/dig up the plants and dispose of them safely. Then, you will need to be vigilant to remove new plants that appear.More Non-Natives Questions
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June 23, 2010 - I had a greenlane euonymus that had a few flies last year but was infested with thousands this year. We ripped it out, it was an 8 year old plant. Do you know why they are attracted to it now?
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Growing non-native grapefruit from seeds from Austin
April 30, 2013 - Can you grow ruby red grapefruit trees from seeds?
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Pruning of non-native New Dawn rose in Fairfield CT
May 13, 2009 - Hi! Can you help me with blind shoots on a climbing rose, New Dawn? The sun is planted in the south side of the house and gets plenty of light. I have only lightly fertilized it twice a year last yea...
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Non-native banana plants dying back in Rocklin CA
March 15, 2010 - I bought a home last July in Rocklin, CA that had several banana plants growing in the yard. They died back during the winter frost. We pruned them back to the ground and placed mulch over the top. ...
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Comment on previous answer from Austin
October 15, 2013 - Ms Bradford,
You just answered my question about St. Augustine grass.. actually, you didn't answer it.. You said "sorry, wrong number". Very funny. I think you misunderstood... I would rather no...
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