These native plants offer just as much beauty as invasive species, but won’t grow out of control.
The good news is that there are plenty ofbeautiful native plantsthat make excellent alternatives in the landscape.
Here’s a list of the top invasive plants and the best native substitutes to grow instead.
Credit: Denny Schrock
In woodlands and other natural areas, it can blanket trees and shade out native seedlings.
Hummingbirds love the red blooms, and other birds eat the berries it produces after the blooms fade.
Invasive Plant: Butterfly Bush
What could be bad about a butterfly bush?
Credit: Jay Wilde
Itattracts butterfliesand bees, and that’s good, right?
The Chinese native is listed as invasive in 20 states, including all of the West Coast.
It can take over woodlands and stream areas, pushing out native plants.
Credit: Emily Minton-Redfield
You get the fragrant, blue-purple blooms of a butterfly bush without its aggressive growth.
They’re hardy and drought-tolerant in Zones 8-10.
The ‘Victoria’ cultivar is a tad more cold-hardy and will grow in Zone 7.
Credit: Jason Wilde
Invasive Plant: English Ivy
While ivy is desirable in academia, it becomes a nightmare in some landscapes.
In cities and suburbs, English ivy is also a haven for rats.
It’s native to northern Europe, where cold weather keeps its spread in check.
Credit: Adam Albright
Go withcross vine(Bignonia capreolata), an evergreen, woody vine native to the southeastern United States.
It produces yellow and mahogany flowers, as well as dense foliage.
Cross vine grows in Zones 6-9.
Credit: Jerry Pavia
Like most imported plants, it arrived with good intentions.
This North American native grows beautiful, bright purple berries in Zones 5-10.
Its foliage turns magenta-purple in the fall, so youget autumn color, too.
Its seeds and berries are an importantfood source for songbirds, deer, and squirrels.
Beautyberry blooms in the spring and summer, attracting butterflies and other native insects.
This shrub is native to much of North America, from Newfoundland to Tennessee, flourishing in Zones 2-10.
Credit: Laurie Black
Itattracts pollinatorsand feeds the larvae of several butterfly species.
Another closely related native alternative is Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria frutescens var.
But mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) has become invasive in 13 states.
Credit: Jay Wilde
It’s considered a major menace to the plant ecosystem in Florida.
Mimosas have brittle wood and weak root systems, so they don’t live very long.
They’re also messy, dropping seedpods all over yards and driveways.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
This small tree is native to the eastern U.S. and hardy in Zones 4-9.
It’s agood choice for smaller gardens.
Invasive Plant: Large Periwinkle
Thisfast-growing groundcoveris one of the top invasive plants in the South.
Gardeners plant largeperiwinkle(Vinca major) for its pretty purple blooms and ability to grow in shade.
Three centuries later, it’s a rampant invasive in all Southern states and California.
Periwinkle crowds out native plants along wetlands and in the forests.
It’s also host to bacteria that cause a devastating disease in grapevines.
Its relative, common periwinkle(Vinca minor), is also bad news.
It grows well in shady areas and produces small white flowers in spring.
Mountain spurge grows slowly, so it won’t take over everything around it.
Native to the Eastern United States, it will grow in Zones 6-8.
Be careful not to confuse mountain spurge with similar-looking Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis), which is invasive.
It’s a truly awful plant, though.
It will grow to 12 feet tall and a spread of 6-12 feet wide.
Its white flowers appear in spring to early summer, attracting bees, birds, and butterflies.
