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Bee populations are in decline, and Cheerios wants to help. So far, so good. But they are sending free packets of wildflower seeds to people all over the country—and some of the flowers included are invasive species that, in some areas, you should probably not plant.
Forget-me-not (listed above but, the seed packager told me on 3/21/2017, not included in the seed mix) is banned as a noxious weed in Massachusetts and Connecticut, for example. The California poppy is nice in California, but listed as an "invasive exotic pest plant" in southeastern states. And many of the flowers on this list are not native to anywhere in the US, so they are not necessarily good matches for our local bees.
http://lifehacker.com/don-t-plant-those-bee-friendly-wildflowers-cheerios-i-1793370883
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2, Insightful) by epitaxial on Tuesday March 28 2017, @02:05AM (6 children)
How is this any different than those wildflower seed packs sold in stores? This is a non story.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday March 28 2017, @02:42AM (1 child)
I'm reminded of an anecdote told on some agricultural forum.
The man watches as neighbors and customers carefully prepare the ground, ridding themselves of weeds, then very carefully plant the seed mix prepared for their area within the region. Plants sprout, and in the mix, are seeds for the very same "weeds" that they so carefully pulled out of the ground.
But, yeah, if you're going to plant wildflowers, use a reputable dealer, and be sure that those "wild flowers" are native to your region. The plants that most people call "flowers" aren't native at all. Roses, for instance. There are native wild roses in my area. I'm not even real sure that they are the same plants as most people's idea of roses. These come out of the ground, and spread out, very much like a vine. They'll climb anything, and will reach 20 feet up, if they find support. They aren't especially pretty, IMO, but the wife likes them. We have them in three places in the yard. They don't need special watering, they don't need fertilizer, all they need is for me to stay away from them with the lawn mower until they are well established.
Most "well tended" flower gardens are full of invasive species. Bulbs from Holland, for instance. As far as I know, none of those popular bulb flowers are native to America.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Jiro on Tuesday March 28 2017, @03:05AM
An invasive species is a species that not only isn't native, but causes trouble because it spreads. Bulbs from Holland are not invasive species just because they aren't native to the region.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 28 2017, @03:27AM
How is this any different than those wildflower seed packs sold in stores? This is a non story.
Bingo.
Here's what the seed packager had to say in response:
"In most locations, the seed mixture species will be non-native but not considered invasive," said John Barrett, director of sales, marketing and development with Veseys, based in York, P.E.I.
To be invasive, he said, a species has to be non-native and have the tendency to spread and threaten the environmental, economic or social health of an area.
"Some species within the mixture have the potential to become naturalized, adding to the biodiversity of the area without negatively impacting the environment," he said, adding Veseys complies with the seed purity requirements of the Canada Seeds Act.
...
"Consumers throughout the entire U.S. will find any of the varieties contained in our seed mix in the many seed racks carried by all the major chains such as Lowes, Home Deport, Walmart, etc.," explained Barrett.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-veseys-seeds-wildflower-mix-questions-gmo-invasive-species-1.4032641 [www.cbc.ca]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 28 2017, @04:28AM
Those packets ought to be illegal. What's OK in one part of the country can completely destroy the environment in another. California poppies around here are a mild problem, but in other places they take over.
Really, if you're going to grow random plants, they should at least not be known invasives.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by wisnoskij on Tuesday March 28 2017, @05:05AM (1 child)
I would really hope that the wildflower packets you find in the store are legally required to not contain dangerous invasive species for your area. Try and bring seeds across a boarder post and you are going to have a bad time. Presumably, America also has some legislation about invasive species as well. It is possible Cheerios broke the law.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 28 2017, @04:36PM
Its also possible you broke the law by making that post.
But you didn't, and neither did cheerios.