GoGardenNews - Items of gardening and ecological interest

Fox News, among many other outlets, posted that the Monarch butterfly is now officially on the endangered species list. "The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating monarch butterfly for the first time to its 'red list' of threatened species and categorized it as 'endangered' — two steps from extinct."

John Pitarresi in a "Special to the Observer-Dispatch" declared that "Japanese knotweed is a menace.Even more than we knew. Knotweed is that tall, big-leafed plant that grows most commonly along creeks and rivers in dense stands that can be almost impossible to walk through. Some call it bamboo, which it superficially resembles. It makes recreation in some areas very difficult, and it displaces native plants in a big way. And more than that.

A superwasp able to produce 1,000 offspring is threatening vast forests in North America, a new study has revealed.

Photo by Karan Rawlins; University of Georgia

If there's not enough for you to fear, we're being warned about Cogon Grass (Imperata cylindrica). It's native to Southeast Asia and possibly to East Africa. It was introduced to the U.S. by accident, then intentionally. It's a beast.

This article by the Associated Press makes some great points about landscape diversity. We think it's cool!