I don’t know where you are, but if you are in New England or someother areas of the eastern half of the US, I would suggest the you pull them out and replace them with something different. In this part of the country they spread into woods and fields via birds and other critters and crowd out native plants. It is illegal to sell them or transfer them in several New England states because of their invasive nature.

Agreed, discard them.

Whie they have not been found to be invasive here on the west coast, I recently encountered a situation with a burning bush that gave me pause for thought. I was called for a consultation by a homeowner regarding a very expensive and disruptive replacement of a septic system as the result of root invasion. The homeowner wanted to find out the source of the invasion to prevent this from happening again. And fortunately, I was called in the day before the excavations and replacement had been filled in and the project finished so all manner of stuff was exposed below soil level in this well established 25 y.o. garden.

The source of the roots were two huge - the largest I've seen - burning bushes, each easily a good 20'+ tall and equally as wide, if not wider. And the roots were sized just as impressively as well. There were several that had been cut on each by the septic guys that were in the 4-5" diameter range. One had obviously grown into the distribution box, causing it's failure and the other into other parts of the system although both shrubs were planted well away from the leach field.

I'm not sure I will ever look at another Euonymus alatus again in quite the same way :-) Almost $10K is a big investment for a couple of shrubs whose only redeeming value is that they turn a rather startling shade of red in fall !

When I purchased them at my local nursery 8 years ago, they assured me they were not invasive. I guess a lot can change in 8 years though. The nursery told me that while a lot of burning bushes were invasive, the particular one I was choosing was not. It is a dward variety...if that is any help at all. I lost the tag that came with them.

Yes, they are really only pretty in the fall. The rest of the year not so much.... Why I took them out of my front flower bed. I may need to just toss them. I hate doing that though bc even though they aren't appealing most months out of the year I grew a little attached to them. They were the first plants I bought.

Hmmm.... I don't know if I can dig them up and throw them away. I may have to get the hubby to do it. By the way I am in zone 7b. Chattanooga tn if that is of any help if it's invasive in that area

Plus you can count on most nurseries saying whatever will make the sale for them. Sad, but true.

When I purchased them at my local nursery 8 years ago, they assured me they were not invasive.

==>> you wouldnt expect him to throw them away .. lol ...

id find a better guide for your garden purchases ... he either has no clue what she is talking about ... or is not an honest person ... and that bugs me more ...

that said... there can be a big difference between the owner/horticulturist ... and a yard worker ... so some wiggle room there ...

ken

Yes, in your zone there are SO many more interesting (longer season) shrubs that would be more welcome.

I always love witch hazels (real season extenders) and GG (I believe it was) informs me there are some with lovely fall foliage (which I said they were a bit meh). Oak leaf hydranges are interesting four seasons of the year to me (leaf, flower(which lasts till spring in dried form), fall color, interesting bark). viburnums, hypericums (if a drier area), sabal minor (yes a real palm), or even a trellis with clematis or the native coral honeysuckle on it.

Lots and lots of choices....rhodos/azaleas (natives of course), magnolias,etc.

Just toss those burning bushes and don't look back.

For me much of the appeal of deciduous Euonymus species is that they have a fresh and clean appearance when in leaf during summer - it's not just about fall color (and noticeable fruits, with those kinds that produce them). Fall color that is in fact amazing with E. alatus, hence burning bush.

Burning bush reseeds out here too but I've never seen it spreading into the woods. With certain exceptions E Asian stuff like this apparently can't survive our dry western summers during the seedling stage on most sites.

To name but two introductions Little Moses ('Odom') is supposed to be shy fruiting and 'Rudy Haag' is said to be seedless. With a sterile burning bush having been identified in 2011, search likely phrases for multiple hits.

Phloxy, for great fall color but some earlier season interest as well, check out Fothergilla (red-orange), blueberry (red), and Enkianthus (gold to red, depending on the cultivar). Spicebush/Lindera benzoin is a beautiful gold here.

Like the supposedly sterile Bradford pears, all currently registered cultivars of Euonymus alatus can be cross pollinated by the species. And 'Rudy Haag' is NOT sterile and does produce fruit and seeds - it's only real claim to fame is that it is quite small and compact.

Let me repeat - there are NO sterile cultivars of this plant currently on the market.

Okay thank you all so much. I will dig them up when I am off work tomorrow. I will find some of the above suggestions to plant in their place. I don't want an invasive species!

If you are attached to them and they haven’t been invasive for you by now, then why dig them out?!

I love mine and wouldn’t do without them.

Mine have reseeded but never survive our winters...so no worries of being invasive here.

They are one of my favorites for fall color...

The issue with invasive species is that they are rarely obvious as being invasive in one's own garden:-) They have this sneaky aspect about them in that they typically only show their invasive nature in uncultivated, natural areas. So you may never see them growing rampantly and outcompeting native vegetation unless driving or hiking in wilderness areas but that does not negate their very negative impact.

But this issue is moot as they ARE a listed invasive in the OP's TN location so removal is strongly encouraged.

Limited fruit production = limited reseeding. And there is fruitless and then there is seedless. It's the same as with the dwarf Japanese barberry cultivars that don't generate full compliments of fertile fruits, partly neutered horticultural selections like this simply do not have the ability to flood their vicinity with progeny.

Of course, it could be assumed that any fully functional seedlings that such a planting might manage to produce would eventually lead to infestations.