Well as for this question: " Next, I'll list reasons (the ones that come to mind right now) for and against introducing invasive plants." For the ones you list, 3 is a pretty good one. If it is already here, and already in a heavily altered landscape that will never be natural, then it is alright to use. Number 6 is good, too-since humans have changed everything, these invasive plants have found a niche in the new environment we have created. Nature has a hard time existing where I live, 95% of the county is in intense agriculture, 80% is plowed field of corn and soybeans, so sometimes people's views might be different because what they see on daily basis. Now with high prices of land and commodity prices, even the naturalized species are being destroyed, leaving less room even for the more adaptable species of animals.

one of my rudbeckias has stems which are very suddenly covered by a reddish bug--not exactly like aphids, but similar. i am thinking they are a red mite. i have read that they are beneficial predators for them, and wonder where people in this (raleigh) area buy them locally, or what other steps you would take to get rid of them.

I had the same experience as George with the monarda. I had 3 plants of it, pink, red, and purple, planted in almost full shade (maybe two hours of morning sun). It spread nicely the first two years, although it did have powdery mildew. The third year, nothing. Zippo. But then, I seem to have problems with plants other people label as aggressive or invasive, lol. I now have two pots of monarda in my driveway. I do plan on planting them, but need to get the area ready. One will probably go into full sun in a hot, dry, poor-soil area. The other I may try again in shade. I planted some achillea last fall, so kind of early to tell how it will behave. I planted nine plants from Bluestone, so they were tiny. This spring they are a nice size and blooming very well in horrible, root-bound soil in half sun/half shade. They are in an area which is being reclaimed from the woods - an old dead, poison-ivy-covered tree fell over last year and I've decided to make a garden there. The achillea is literally planted around the stump. I thought since the soil was so bad, perhaps that would control any spreading. My artemisia died, never to be seen again, after two seasons. Good luck, Martie! :) Dee

I just ate a tasty slice of Himalayan blackberry pie, boy was it good. Almost as good as our native trailing blackberry, Rubus ursinus. But like I said before, I use to make money picking blackberries. By the time peeling cascara bark was done, the native blackberry became ripe, early July. The buyer paid more for them than Himalayan and evergreen blackberries, but it took all day just to pick a half gallon. In the same time period I could pick five gallons of the exotic berries. But then the native berry is long done by the time the exotic berries are ready, so they didn't conflict. I went from cascara, to native blackberry, to Himalayan/evergreen blackberries. The city lot I am living on now, when I moved here I had to fight hard to get rid of mostly English ivy and some Himalayan blackberries, except my partner made me keep a small patch in an unused spot. She loves them and to humor her I kept them. Now I get to eat tasty blackberry pie. Thank goodness I am not as closed minded as you guys. BTW, reg, all those animals are also found in native brush beds, so what's your point. Besides those animals you mentioned, bears, deer, coyotes I mentioned before, I have also seen native voles, field mice, and mountain beaver, Aplodontia rufa. That's not counting all the native and nonnative birds that feed and live within the vines. I noticed you didn't say anything about evergreen blackberries. That is also on the Weed Board list, an overkill as far as I am concerned. That species rarely is found in any great numbers like Himalayan blackberries. I don't know how old you are or how long you have lived in the PNW reg pnwl, but like I said before I was born here and have called the PNW home for sixties years. These three species of plants have been there as long as I can remember and have not been a problem and have actually been of value to man kind. And I have seen abandoned gravel pits that were populated with Scott broom and blackberries turn into alder, black cottonwood, willow forest, with Sitka spruce, hemlock, and douglas fir coming up through the deciduous trees, so I don't think you have been around long enough to see that transition, or you haven't paid attention to it. As for rain2fall, all I can say is WOW, what a rocket scientist. I didn't know that Scott broom and blackberries eat meat, "...invasive predators...", I learn something new all the time. You must work for the weed boards with adjective usage like that.