On May 17, 2009, at 10:21 AM, pbs-request@lists.ibiblio.org wrote: > A word of caution on Gladiolus tristus. We have lots of experience > with > it at the Garden. It is a great flower and one I am very fond of, > but it > has to be watched carefully because it does too well. There are > areas in > the Bay Area region where it has a tendency to be invasive; it has > certainly moved around in our collection. I'm curious to know what you call invasive. Typically in ecology, an invasive plant dominates its growing area and crowds out most/all other species. If left alone, it will successfully replace the original plant community with itself; examples in my neighborhood: gorse, scots broom, ivy, and a couple of beach grasses (Ammophila species), and quack grass. I see many people use the word invasive to mean a plant that successfully sets seed and spreads around when in fact this is an example of naturalization, one step beyond establishment (thriving in the original spot of introduction). So in the Garden, Paul, is Gladiolus tristis a determined and dominant thug of the invasive variety, or a very successful naturalizer? Kathleen In the coastal Pacific NW, where residents have been stunned to experience two days in a row with temperatures above 70F.