dwarf euonymous (burning bush)

Simple question---is it deciduous? If so, is it still attractive thru the winter?

Hello
I am not sure if it is attractive, but although beautiful, considered invasive. Lotsa babies.

I understand what you are saying, but I wonder if this holds true in the Pacific Northwest. "Garden thugs" are no fun---you nurture, nurture, nurture, then, pow! Right in the kisser! They're taking over!

There is a site about the best plants for 2004 - 2007 where I first learned about the invasiveness. Of course what is invasive to some is extra inventory to others! HA! I am not sure about PNW but I bet you can google and find out. I read a whole lot on GardenWeb (folks posting their experiences with the unwanted seedlings) but I don't know where geographically they are located.

I have a dwarf burning bush, and at my old house I had a HUGE one and never did I get any 'babies' from it.
I keep hearing it's invasive, but have never seen evidence of that, at least here.

I love these things... and when we moved, since i wanted one, and DH didn't want to keep trimming a 10"+ one, we settled on a dwarf.

it's obviously gorgeous in the Fall , but then it does loose it's leaves for the winter.

It's a shrub i'll never be without.

The dwarf euonyomous is deciduous. I guess the beauty of the shrub w/o the leaves during the winter is all in the eye of the beholder. It does have a nice shape and is very beautiful when it catches some snow fall. This shrub is on the Pacific Northwest Great Plant Picks list so you can be sure that it is NOT invasive in our area. Here's a link: http://www.greatplantpicks.org/
Hope this helps.
jennifer

Thanks, Jennifer. Great plant picks has an awesome photographer. Everyone seems to be very adept at posting their photos. I don't know how yet, and always forget to catch the "before and after" when I'm re-doing my various garden areas. With my memory, the camera is my best friend, along with DG.

One thing that you can be sure of is that it is not formally identified as being invasive in your area. Due to lack of funding for research to document a plant's existence in an area, many plants that have escaped cultivation and "naturalized" in an area go without being formally identified as an invasive species. There are other reasons many plants aren't formally identified as being invasive. Politics being one of them because as noted by missingrosie, "Of course what is invasive to some is extra inventory to others! HA! " The nursery industry is extremely powerful. Kudos to you missingrosie for mentioning all the seedlings being reported by others. Many of my neighbors have 20-25 year old burning bushes that are fruiting up a storm these days so I am getting literally hundreds of seedlings popping up everywhere.

One other point, the plant was banned for sale in quite a few areas out east recently. There are a lot of nurseries that have a lot of inventory they need to unload and it's going out west where it is still currently legal to sell. I suspect that if it enjoys the same popularity out west that it enjoyed out east, it should take no time at all before the plant becomes a problem in the PNW because this plant is being heavily marketed out your way.

Here's Great Plant Pick's selection criteria-


Should note that it would appear their working definition is that a plant not be formally listed as invasive in the states in which they are marketing it because that plant is formally listed as invasive in quite a few states. Based on my personal experiences with this plant as well as those of others, I'd have to agree with Great Plant Picks that burning bushes are most definitely "adaptable to a variety of soil and fertility conditions".

This particular plant (which is a lot easier to look up when spelled properly) is Euonymus alatus not euonyomous and it is an introduced species from Asia.
Here is a map from the Feds showing all the states in which this plant is currently documented as having a foothold-
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=EUAL13
That's 24 states that burning bush has naturalized in and oddly enough, the plant first gained in popularity out east but it's popularity has now swept to the west. I suspect it is only a matter of time before it is officially documented as being "weedy" in the PNW.

One of the reasons why some people don't see babies is because they live in well tended residential areas where anything out of place is "weeded" out. Unfortunately, residential areas aren't the problem. It's natural areas that are threatened when birds eat the berries of burning bushes then fly over natural areas pooping them out in ready made fertilizer packs where they germinate the following year. It's there that species such as Euonymus alatus do the most damage.

Couple links you might be interested in-
http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/alert/alrteuon.html
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr694.pdf

Yes, burning bushes are beautiful. I used to have 12 of them myself. A great substitute for Euonymus alatus is Fothergilla major and a great substitute for the dwarf burning bush is Fothergilla gardenii. Superior fall color on Fothergilla. This shrub is also deciduous so it too will lose its leaves in fall. Hope this helps give you another idea for use in your landscape.

Dear Equilibrium, I know it's a long time between responses, but I heartily congratulate you on your well-researched and well-reasoned response about this plant. And what could be a petter peeve than the mis-spelling of a plant species on a nursery label?! I like to look at older gardening books, and saw one the other day with a lovely photo and recommendation for "purple loosestrife," a VERY unwelcome regional thug here in these parts.

I work with these types of plants. Having familiarity with them, it's no problem plugging into a search engine to get links for newer gardeners so I try to do that. I really appreciated it when people helped me by providing accurate documentation from reputable sources so I try to do the same for others time allowing.

Bet you about laughed outloud when you read that Lythrum salicaria was being recommended in an old book but bet you about fall over when you see it still being recommended online and sold in the year 2008... let's call it by its real name so people can plug that into a search engine and add the word invasive and see what comes up!

Say, here's a really great book I'd like to suggest to you. It's under $20 and really addresses most of the issues with the small percentage of plants that are actually invasive-
'Bringing Nature Home' by Douglas Talamy
http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Nature-Home-Sustain-Wildlife/dp/0881928542

You will love that book and even more so if you are really into plants and wildlife! Let me know what you think of it if you can get your hands on a copy. Warning- gardeners who pick it up can't put it down!

Have a great spring gardening!

Thanks so much for sharing, Equilibrium. Yes, my back already knows it's spring! Wish I had gardened more when I was young enuf to actually pull it off! But gardening gets one through days that would be most unpalatable without it. Here's to all our fabulous gardens.

Velvet - Amen to that!!
Just yesterday I was remembering how I once could spend all day - dawn to dusk - in the garden - now I poop out pretty easily. The upside of having to struggle more now is that I appreciate it all the more.