Governor Glenn Youngkin is considering a bill aimed at cracking down on invasive plants.
Does your local garden store have citrus trifoliata or morus alba? What about vinca minor or wisteria floribunda? If so, Senator Saddam Salim says that store should provide a warning that these are invasive plants. He had a similar bill last year, although it was vetoed by the governor because the list of invasive plants came from a third party. The bill he sent the governor this year has 39 Latin names of the most invasive plants out there.
"We did it this way so that if it's poison ivy, it has its Latin scientific name. That way it's more scientific rather than a street name that's not defined," Salim says. "So, control of the list is now within the realm of the executive branch."
Delegate Holly Seibold says she hopes the governor will agree with this new approach.
"We're not telling someone they can't purchase it," Seibold explains. "All we're doing is informing consumers that the plant they're about to purchase is invasive and why not choose an alternate plant, something that's native?"
If the governor signs the bill, a working group will be created to determine what kinds of signs should appear at garden stores and nurseries, what the signs should say and where they should be located.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
