Our gardens can be havens for local wildlife and vital parts of a healthy ecosystem—or they can be a source of ecological harm. Some of the most popular plants for your yard are invasive to North America, silently wreaking havoc by outcompeting native species and disrupting habitats.
During National Invasive Species Awareness Week (February 24-28, 2025), let's explore the impact of invasive plants and discover the beauty and benefits of native alternatives. In this post, we call out five common offenders and identify native alternatives that enhance, rather than harm, our local environment.
1. Bamboo (Bambusa spp.)
Many bamboo species (Bambusa spp.) are deceptively attractive additions to the garden, prized for their fast growth and exotic charm. However, their aggressive spread via underground rhizomes can quickly turn a desirable feature into a nightmare. Controlling invasive bamboo is notoriously difficult, requiring significant effort to contain it and prevent it from overtaking native plant communities.
North America does have one species of native bamboo, river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) which is a clumping, non-invasive grass that forms dense thickets, typically reaching 6–12 feet tall.
Native alternatives to bamboo:
Bamboo is a popular option for homeowners seeking to create partitions and add privacy to their yard. For a similar effect, look for evergreen shrubs with low-growing branches. Some native grasses may also be a good alternative.
Inkberry (Ilex glabra) is a dense, evergreen shrub with small, dark green leaves and a compact, rounded form. It grows 3–8 feet tall and wide, making it an excellent alternative for privacy screens. It's also wildlife-friendly with small black berries that provide a valuable food source for birds in winter.
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a deciduous holly shrub with dark green foliage that drops in the fall, revealing bright red berries. While not evergreen, it grows 3–12 feet tall and 3–6 feet wide and features a thick, branching structure that provides screening and habitat. The bright red berries persist through winter, offering an eye-catching alternative to bamboo while supporting birds.
Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) is a tall, upright native grass that can grow 4–8 feet tall, known for its blue-green foliage that turns reddish-bronze in fall. A key species in native prairie ecosystems, it provides habitat for insects and birds. Its deep root system makes it highly effective for erosion control, and it adds vertical interest to the landscape.
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) is a fine-textured native grass with graceful, arching foliage that grows up to 3 feet tall and wide. It has a tidy, clumping habit. Ideal for creating low hedges or naturalizing in meadow-like settings. Its flowers produce a light, sweet fragrance, and it attracts birds and pollinators.
2. English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Prized for its evergreen beauty and ability to cover walls and ground, English ivy (Hedera helix) has a dark side. This seemingly harmless plant is a highly invasive species that wreaks havoc on natural ecosystems, particularly forests, by smothering native vegetation and disrupting natural processes.
Native alternatives to English ivy:
English ivy is a popular choice for ground cover. The good news is that there are several native species that work well as ground cover! It's also a climber, often covering trellises, trees, and the facade of buildings, making native vines an excellent alternative.
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a native vine that offers beautiful fall foliage and provides berries for birds. It can climb walls like English ivy but without the aggressive, damaging spread. In autumn, its lush green summer leaves transform into brilliant shades of deep red, burgundy, and orange, providing unmatched seasonal interest.
Climbing Aster (Ampelaster carolinianus) is a great native alternative to English ivy. It thrives in warm, wetland areas of the southeastern U.S., producing daisy-like purple flowers from late summer to fall. Unlike ivy, it doesn't damage structures, growing by leaning on fences, trellises, or trees without harm.
Prairie Phlox (Phlox pilosa) is a versatile and low-maintenance plant that brings color, fragrance, and pollinator activity to a variety of garden settings. Its adaptability to slopes and open woodlands makes it an excellent choice for naturalizing landscapes or enhancing pollinator-friendly spaces. It can also be used as a ground cover for sunny areas.
3. Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) has spread aggressively across much of North America since its introduction as an ornamental plant. This highly invasive vine now blankets vast areas of forest floor, choking out native vegetation and fundamentally changing the composition and function of these ecosystems.
Native alternative to Japanese honeysuckle:
Japanese honeysuckle is popular for its flowers and fragrant blooms. There are several native vines that provide similar benefits. Some native shrubs and wildflowers also produce pleasant fragrances to bring your garden to life!
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is a native honeysuckle that provides a similar look with its fragrant flowers and climbing habit, but without the invasive properties. With clusters of bright red, tubular flowers that bloom from spring through fall, coral honeysuckle is one of the best native plants for attracting hummingbirds, especially Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, which rely on tubular flowers for nectar.
Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is another great native alternative offering many of the same ornamental benefits. This evergreen vine produces fragrant, trumpet-shaped yellow flowers in late winter to early spring, making it one of the first blooms of the season. Its lush green foliage provides year-round coverage for trellises, fences, or arbors, offering a similar aesthetic to honeysuckle.
American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is a less aggressive, native alternative to the invasive Japanese honeysuckle and another popular invasive species, Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis). This vine features cascades of lavender or purple flowers in spring. It supports pollinators and offers a beautiful, fragrant option for arbors and pergolas.
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is a fragrant, pollinator-friendly shrub native to eastern North America. It grows 6–12 feet tall and wide, thriving in shade. In spring, it offers nectar with tiny yellow flowers; in summer, its aromatic foliage supports spicebush swallowtail caterpillars; in fall, it provides bright red berries for birds and golden leaves.
4. Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus)
This shrub, prized for its vibrant red fall foliage, seems like a harmless addition to any landscape. However, burning bush has become a highly invasive menace in many regions, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast. It aggressively displaces native shrubs and understory plants, forming dense thickets that shade out and outcompete native species. This not only reduces biodiversity but also disrupts the food sources and habitat that native wildlife depend on.
Native alternative to burning bush:
The vibrant fall colors of the burning bush add to its allure, making it look like it's on fire in the fall. Several native shrubs also feature red foliage, stems, and berries. If it's the red color you're after, there is a native plant out there for you!
Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) is a great native alternative to burning bush for those seeking vibrant, red fall foliage. It offers deep crimson leaves in autumn and provides multi-season interest with spring flowers, summer greenery, and winter berries that feed birds. It grows 6–10 feet tall, making it ideal for hedges, privacy screens, and native gardens.
Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) is famous for its vibrant red stems that provide striking winter interest, similar to the bright red foliage of burning bush in the fall. The stems' intensity is most pronounced in younger branches. In spring and summer, it produces clusters of small white flowers that attract pollinators, followed by white or bluish berries in late summer and fall.
5. Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
The butterfly bush, with its long, vibrant flower spikes, seems like a perfect addition to any pollinator garden. It's a magnet for butterflies, and its name suggests it's a beneficial plant. However, this popular shrub presents a significant ecological problem. While it attracts adult butterflies (and other pollinators) with its nectar, it acts as a kind of "ecological trap."
Butterfly bushes offer little to no value as host plants, meaning butterflies cannot lay eggs on them for their caterpillars to feed. Native butterflies have co-evolved with specific native plants, and their caterpillars require those plants to survive. A prime example of this is the monarch butterfly and milkweed, its only host plant.
The butterfly bush does excel at one thing: spreading. It produces seeds that are easily dispersed by wind, escaping gardens to establish themselves in natural areas. There, they aggressively compete with native plants for resources like sunlight, water, and nutrients, reducing biodiversity and disrupting ecosystems by forming dense thickets that displace native plant communities and damage the food web.
Instead of planting butterfly bush, choose native alternatives that support butterflies throughout their entire life cycle and contribute to a healthy, balanced ecosystem.
Native alternatives to butterfly bush:
The butterfly bush is popular for its ability to attract pollinators and its large, fragrant flowers that bloom continuously throughout the summer with minimal upkeep. Many native plants offer the same benefits including pollinator attraction, long blooms, easy maintenance, and beautiful flowers without harming local ecosystems.
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) has fragrant, ball-shaped flowers that attract a wide variety of pollinators, including butterflies, and also provides food for birds. Thriving in moist conditions, its perfect for rain gardens or near ponds. Its long bloom period (mid-summer to early fall) ensures that pollinators have a consistent nectar source during the warmer months.
False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) is a highly adaptable, deciduous shrub native to North America, valued for its hardiness, ecological benefits, and striking appearance. The towering, deep purple flowers of the false indigo make this shrub a great alternative for gardeners interested in the invasive butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii).
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a native deciduous shrub known for its striking arching branches and vibrant fall colors. Its leaves turn chartreuse and clusters of bright purple fruit form along its stems. Its white flowers offer nectar to native bees, and it serves as the caterpillar host plant for the spring azure butterfly and the snowberry clearwing moth.
Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) is a resilient and versatile native plant, perfect for dry, sunny, and partly shaded areas. Its pale green-white hue and thin, whorled leaves create a delicate beauty in your garden. As a host plant for monarch caterpillars, this plant is a fantastic replacement for the butterfly bush.
The Importance of Planting Native
Each of these invasive species may look appealing for your garden, but their negative impact on local ecosystems is significant, and they can be difficult to get rid of once you plant them. Opting for native plants helps restore biodiversity, improve soil health, and provide essential habitat for local wildlife, from birds to pollinators. Native species are also easier to maintain as they are adapted to local conditions and they require less maintenance overall (less water, no chemicals or fertilizers).
Be sure to do your research before you buy or plant something new for your garden. Every plant is native somewhere and a plant native to Florida may grow differently when planted in Ohio. Refer to your local native plant society or use native plant identification apps to learn what's best for your area.
To buy native plants by zip code, visit the Garden for Wildlife online store and filter through our native plant collections and individual plant sets. We make it easy to find the right plant for the right place!
Looking for more native species? You can find more plants, shrubs and trees native to your area using the National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder.
