Pearce's books sounds very interesting ... thanks, I'll give it a read. Jo Canning Vancouver Island -----Original Message----- From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of Erik Van Lennep Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2018 12:47 AM To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> Subject: Re: [pbs] invasive??? This topic is both confused and inflammatory...as well as fascinating. Invasiveness is definitely contextual, and that context is temporal, situational, ecological and cultural. It's getting more people stirred up now that human immigration has become such a flash point, and echoes back to 1930s Germany as the Nazi xenophobia was gathering steam and wishing to purge anything "foreign", including many plants. We seem doomed to thinking and acting in cycles...blindly or with amnesia about our histories. A few years ago, here in Spain, there was a mini stand-off between a local "eco-Taliban" group and a small, new, botanic garden. The garden was testing salt tolerance for a range of edible, medicinal and ornamental species planted in a constructed beach (hence not natural itself). The defenders of eco-purity based their hysteria on a handful of self-referencing documents sourced from the national equivalent of the EPA. On examining the documents, two things were evident: they were based on a student's desk-top cut & paste work, and the list covered any species anywhere in the world ever claimed to be invasive in any situation, but without qualifying the data. There were quite a few species native to the contested region itself (but at some point claimed to be invasive in Argentina). This list is still the basis for the national strategy to identify invasive species in Spain. Fred Pearce's book,"The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature's Salvation" (2016) makes a very interesting read on the subject of plant migration, invasiveness, and spotty research entrenched in cultural bias toward newcomers and immigrants. And just to clarify, my own orientation has long been staunchly pro-native species only, but in the face of climate change and in working with novel ecosystems in and around urban and agricultural areas, I'm doing a lot of rethinking. Having said all of that, as gardeners, it's our duty to pay attention to how our plants behave, and probably best to avoid anything locally identified as invasive (and by intelligent extension, issues reported from similar habitats and contexts), as well as to yank out introductions that appear to spread problematically. Erik van Lennep Zone 9B Barcelona, Spain youth and elders short video <http://vimeo.com/62177578/> http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikvanlennep/ @Green_Heart <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> *“Another world is not only possible, she is already on her way. On quiet days I can hear her breathing.” * - Arundhati Roy On 14 February 2018 at 22:54, Jo&Greg <sun-coast-pearl@telus.net> wrote: > Re the non-native Nazi attitude. The term "invasive" or "alien invasive" > have > very specific definitions. If a person in your climatic region is > concerned, all they need do is go to the State or Provincial invasive > plant folks, and look at their list. In Canada, (BC) the agency is > called the "Invasive Species Council" > and, like all these agencies, has the job to educated as well as > control invasives, be they plants, insects, and other animals. Also > remember that what is rampant -- perhaps even invasive -- is almost > always climate specific. > My > sister in New Mexico, babies a lovely delicate variegated vine on her > portale. > It is English ivy which, in the Northwest actually twines around and > kills 250-ft cedar trees. > Jo Canning > Zone 6b, Coastal British Columbia (50 degrees Lat.) > > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. http://www.avg.com/ _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…