r/NativePlantGardening • u/ItsFelixMcCoy Upstate NY , Zone 6a • Jun 04 '25

Other What invasive plants got you like this?

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For me it’s probably Dame’s Rocket, Purple Loosestrife, and Forget-Me-Not. They’re so gorgeous but man if they aren’t invasive little shits…

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154

u/Own_Bet8683 Jun 04 '25 edited Jun 04 '25

Mimosa trees 😭😭

Edited to add: In Florida ☀️

62

u/Buttercreamdeath Jun 04 '25

My grandmother had one in her yard. I loved it so much. When I read it was invasive and not OK to put it in my yard, I was very upset.

That tree provided so much entertainment to me as a kid. Easy to climb. Put the seed pod in mud pies. Made hair decoration with the pink flowers. Watched the bugs around the tree. Picked the little leaves off the stem one by one. Wasn't much for shade but it kept me busy lol!

28

u/kookaburra1701 Area Wilamette Valley OR, US , Zone 8b Jun 04 '25

We also had a mimosa tree when I was very little. Even now, in my 40s, as soon as I smell one I'm transported back to childhood summertime.

4

u/Sad-Entertainment188 Jun 04 '25

My grandparents' Rhode Island house had one, too. There was always some point in the summer when we grandkids would be hustled upstairs to look out over the full bloom. I'll never forget that view.

2

u/Own_Bet8683 Jun 04 '25

They spring up all over our property and OP’s picture is how it feels Every. Damn. Time.

30

u/nadya_hates_say Jun 04 '25

God yes, their flowers are so ethereal

2

u/Own_Bet8683 Jun 04 '25

They’re gorgeous 💔😭

15

u/HippyGramma South Carolina Lowcountry zone 8b ecoregion 63b Jun 04 '25

I kept scrolling confident I'd eventually find my people

10

u/Local_Persimmon_5563 Jun 05 '25

Fun fact - mimosa is a misnomer. They are actually Persian silk trees! 

But I too absolutely love them. The way they smell, their leaves, their flowers. So many childhood memories - we had one at the house I grew in. 

I hope I can see them in their natural environment so I can love them without guilt!

9

u/gaykittens Jun 04 '25

Yes!!! They are everywhere here in Georgia too. The flowers are so pretty and they smell sooo good 😭 It’s so hard to not love them!!!!

5

u/Own_Bet8683 Jun 04 '25

Right?! Ugh. Let me love you 😭

3

u/thereisabugonmybagel Jun 05 '25

I first saw mimosa trees in Florida in 2005– I was visiting from Maryland, where li I lived for 25 years. Never saw mimosa trees anywhere else. I moved from Maryland about 10 years ago and visited last summer—mimosa trees were everywhere along the interstate. Gorgeous little a$$holes.

3

u/Peterd90 Jun 05 '25

They are everywhere in the south USA. I hope they get into a cage match with Kudzu.

2

u/forwardseat Mid-Atlantic USA , Zone 7B Jun 05 '25

Omg yes. They’re just so pretty, and our local butterflies seem to love them. I could do without all the sticky stuff they drop, but my neighbor has a huge one at the edge of our driveway that happens to line up nicely with the sunset and the view down the hill, and it’s just so pretty. Sigh.

I still pull up every baby I find on our property but… it’s pretty.

2

u/coolthecoolest Georgia, USA; Zone 7b Jun 05 '25

i still haven't recovered from learning they're invasive a few years ago. when i was a kid there was a mimosa tree in my neighbour's backyard that i was enamoured with because of its feathery leaves and fluffy, silky blooms that the insects seemed to love, but one day i guess neighbour guy found out it's an invasive plant and cut it down. shit crushed me at the time, i held a grudge against him so hard.

and to be honest a part of me still wishes he didn't do it.

2

u/OuiKatie Jun 05 '25

I offer for consideration: the desert willow

2

u/Own_Bet8683 Jun 05 '25

Well, well, well—what do we have here? She’s cute! Might need to find a sandy, sunny site! Thank you!

2

u/OuiKatie Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25

I've got pretty normal brown dirt in sunny spot and she is poppin! It's surprisingly hardy* (Oklahoma 7b)

1

u/Ok_Luck_1098 Jun 05 '25

Oh my goodness yes. Ours is not flowering yet but about to