Burning bush is illegal in CT and MA - there's a difference between MA and CT status but I can't recall - but some people love it and it's still for sale. It's illegal to distribute or sell, I think, but you don't have to dig up what you already have, thank goodness. Good experiences? Bad experiences? Please share.
Anybody? Buehler? We hate ours, at least I hate it. As soon as all the foliage turns red along comes a cold wind and they all blow off. Not worth putting up with for the other 50 weeks, IMHO.
DH thought it hid the garage well but I felt it made the front door inaccessible.
The picture is nice. Maybe you should frame the picture and lose the plant.
katie
First I've heard of this issue....must investigate next weekend (or when free time allows).
they are invasive here as we had them all over our property and in the property on either side of us. I have rid them (and continue to do so) from out property except for a few that were left as hedges or screens. they grow fast and were free.
i do not mind the ones i tend too - it is when they go uncared for that they can spread.
Katie, not my picture, not my plant. Mine looks like a little boy after his first crew cut.
Bill, do you think the birds are eating the yummy seeds and then pooping them out to create new seedlings? Or how do they spread?
Never saw this bush before....can you get the same look with a spirea (japonica)?
carrie they spread the same as barberry from the seeds - and i am sure the birds help - they are only a pain if left unattended and you get a large patch of them - i still burn a couple in our yard every year - they will grow where nothing else will so i keep them in those area's - i have a large ring around my fire pit of them - know there are plenty of other shrubs that could take there place - do not want to wait 7 - 10 years to have the screen again
Sory, it is euonymous alata and also I think illegal in PA.
It is very popular as landscaping at many businesses. I water plants at a car dealer that has a whole hedge of it. Many other landscapes outside the office buildings I go to also have one or several out front or in their parking lots. These are all old plantings, as it is illegal to sell it here in MA.
My yellow barberry is beautiful, but not invasive. At least it never invaded my yard. I have two bushes and they have stayed to themselves for the last 10 years.
Martha
My neighbor has quite a few of the invasive Euonymous alata along the fence line that I am trying to convince him to replace with the lovely native spice bush Lindera benzoin.
I have removed many of the burning bushes from my yard that have spread from his plants and also from the local nature preserve where they choke out native plants.
The spicebush is a good substitute in the northeast particularly in a moist shady area.
Not only is the Lindera benzoin one of the earliest bloomers (yellow flowers like a wild forsythia and aromatic leaves) it has small red drupes later that feed many native birds and is the host plant for both the spicebush swallowtail and eastern swallowtail butterflies.
I really like the idea that not only am I gardening for myself but am also helping the environment and supporting the birds and butterflies.
There are LOTS of great substitutes for what you so aptly call "invasive Euonymous alata." Thanks for your great comments. Martha, that's EXACTLY what I'm talking about! What if you told the car dealer he needed to dig up his old planting to be a responsible citizen? (Sir, you are an irresponsible citizen.) And what do you think of it clipped into a hedge-shape vs. allowed to grow in its wild natural form?
I kinda like Burning Bush. A couple survived the builders landscaping 25 years ago. Now they are all along the west boundary.
Andy P
The autumn color is fantastic.
Andy, does your color last? Ours always blows off after a day or two. And if they are "all along the west boundary" imagine where else they are ...
We have a couple we planted in the early 80's. They are lovely and have never spread on our property. But I should consider getting rid of them though, not just yet. Here is a good article from Maine. http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Living/Note-to-nurseries-No-more-invasives,108271
Thank you for that excellent article, Patti. I will add NH to the list of states where bb is not only illegal but hunted!
They haven't spread "on your property" but who knows where droppings from birds who snacked on your bushes wound up? They're not as hard as I thought they would be to get rid of and there are so many lovely, native options.
I think they are not so invasive on Nantucket as perhaps in other places around New England or I would be seeing them everywhere and I don't, but that doesn't mean that they won't someday become a problem. Patti
they are everywhere here patti - as you may remember - very good article may have to let my wife read it and then show her potential replacements - problem is they will grow anywhere and the "replacements" will need some serious amended soil.
I know I'm repeating myself (I apologize), but my spirea are very well behaved.
They put out leaves early in the spring, when we want the "green" to show up after winter,(only the forsythia are faster), and terrific color in autumn.
(I'm not an expert gardener, just a lazy putterer, so please correct me gently if I'm wrong, thank you).
BostonArea_6A, I like spirea, though they require lots of trimming to keep them looking good and re-blooming after their first major flush of early summer color. Some gardeners have trouble with them self seeding all over the place, though not for us. We grow them to provide us structure in our mixed perennial border, as well as, like you, for their early leaf and decent fall color. They have a very different look then the Burning Bush, Euonymous alata and never provide us with a blast of color as does the invasive Burning Bush, Some of my favorites are Spiraea japonica Shirobana, Spiraea thunbergii Ogon, and Spiraea x bumalda Anthony Waterer , and we grow a few more too which are good solid addition to the property. Patti
Aren't there many species of spirea?
Yes, Many hybrids and cultivars as well as lots of species, plus the name is confusing. Spiraea or Spirea
This is a good article http://www.gardenideas.com/shrubs/shrubs_spirea.html
# Spiraea bumalda ‘Anthony Waterer’ is probably the best-known summer-blooming spirea, and has been available to gardeners since 1890. The leaves emerge as bronzy red and mature to blue-green as flat-top, carmine-pink flowers appear in early summer. It typically grows 3–4 feet tall and 4–6 feet wide. A similar plant, ‘Crispa’, has serrated and twisted leaves.
# Spiraea japonica ‘Little Princess’ has pale pink flowers on 2- to 3-foot tall plants. Its cousin ‘Shirobana’ features bicolor pink-and-white flowers.
# Distinctive golden foliage is the specialty of another group of summer-blooming spirea. Spiraea bumalda ‘Goldflame’, is the forebearer of many of today’s most popular golden spireas. The new leaves of ‘Goldflame’ emerge a coppery red before maturing to chartreuse, and it bears dark pink flowers. In fall, the leaves become a warm bronze color.
# Spiraea japonica ‘Goldmound’, ‘Golden Princess’, ‘Limemound’, ‘Candlelight’, and ‘Magic Carpet’ are noted for their smaller size (generally under 3 feet), and more consistent yellow foliage color than ‘Goldflame’. If yellow leaves with pink flowers strike a dissonant chord, ask your local garden center about ‘White Gold’. This cultivar combines chartreuse foliage and flat-top white flowers.
Patti, those birds don't just defecate on Nantucket. Not trying to beat a dead horse but I have actually been thinking about your lovely burning bushes.
I assume you think all my seeds are being flown off Island and wrecking havoc on the rest of the world. Could be, or perhaps I have a sterile ones. Patti
Carrie, we get a couple weeks of nice color. The seedlings are only in one section of the yard where I don't do any more than remove fallen tree limbs & seedling trees. I planted Creeping Vinca there ages ago, the dog uses it for her business. They do not sprout 100 feet away in the No Mans Land between lots to our east or north.
Andy P
Carrie, The car dealer doesn't have the spread problem so much. the hedge is right next to their building with a sidewalk and parking lot next to it. So busy the birds don't come near the shrubs. and, the landscapers prune them so close that they really don't get many berries at all. That could be a control, a good close pruning, except many homeowners don't do it. Meatball pruning. cuts off the flower buds. Which is ok for a business who wants the plantings looking very neat. Besides, the birds all eat dropped french fries at McDonalds parking lot down the street.
Martha
This message was edited Jan 4, 2011 12:37 AM
that is a good point about close prunning - i noticed with my rose glow barberry that they seed profusely because i do not trim them except for the early spring because the new foliage looks good for the whole season.
the BB's get a couple haircuts a season and do not have the seed issue as much
That IS a good point, Bill. Do you have good foliage anyway, despite the haircuts? (Scrolling up to see what you said before.) One of my sources says BB should NEVER be pruned, to look their best, but most sources now say they should be eradicated.
the ones i have are all "wild" bb's - folilage is not burning red more of a deep pink and some is better than others depending on how much sun they get. i use them more as a hedge or trimmed bush in the yard than for the fall color.
I found one growing in an area of my yard that had been neglected for years.It has been reclaimed and planted,left the B Bush will keep an eye on it .
Oh dear.
my yellow barberrys are not pruned at all. My son and I may have killed them this summer. We dug them up from their old location and moved them to the front of the yard. I await spring to find out if they made it or not. I will be sorry to lose them and will get more if necessary. I adore yellow foliage.
I just saw those burning bushes today at work and they are trimmed to a fair-thee-well so as not to overhang the sidewalk. They are completely bare now, of course.
Martha
Maybe they will say "fair thee well!"
I just got the Miller nurseries catalog in the mail a couple of days ago and they are advertising BB but it does say: "not shipped to MA" in the description.
Martha
How about "not shipped to MA, CT, NH ..."?
i saw that in the millers cat. this morning
The online catalog doesn't say anything about where they will or won't send it .... although I didn't actually try to buy one.
I had to do a hard pruning on my burning bush and found this video. Helped a ton! http://youtu.be/XJuE_CWi--o
I'm one of the eradictors. We dug up a ton it it this year. Before I knew how invasive it is, I let one grow wild outside our dining room because it did at least have some pretty fall color, but it's replaced now with a lovely witch hazel. Little did I know that allowing one to grow could have meant I would have to dig up a dozen more this year. There are so many in my town, I expect to be digging seedlings up in the years to come. I think if I had a nice hedge of it that I couldn't part with, I'd be sure to give it a good haircut every year.
There are roots that are worse to dig up because they become more plentiful. I find privet even harder to dig. But that's next. My plan is to create bald spots in the privet circle in our yard and plant cannas there as a transition. I saw that idea in effect at Skidmore College. I believe I have the opportunity to contribute to the environment through my own yard but not everyone has the same investment. I've also started planting spicebush so there is some support for the native butterflies and insects.
