I got some bad news recently. I picked up a new edition of “Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas” and found that one of my favorite bulbs, Hyacinthoides hispanica, or Spanish Bluebells, is a new entry, its invasive qualities manifesting in my area.

Some invasive plants are sneaky. They pop up in one’s garden without explanation or obvious origin and force gardeners to take action on the spot, lest they be forgotten and allowed to grow and spread. Some of the sneakiest are the Bush Honeysuckles, several species of Lonicera with Eurasian origins.

Confession is said to be good for the soul, so here it goes: I have, while standing in someone’s garden, wimped out on telling them their Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) is invasive.

One extremely popular plant that has recently been showing its invasive qualities and is on invasive lists in various northern Virginia jurisdictions is Liriope, commonly called Monkey Grass or Lilyturf.

English ivy is one of America’s foremost invasives, taking over natural areas especially along both coasts.

For years I thought Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) wasn’t a big problem, at least not around Northern Virginia. I wasn’t spotting it in wild areas like I was seeing other plants on Arlington’s invasive list. Then I learned.

This new series, “Plant This, Not That” by Alyssa Ford Morel offers suggestions on replacing invasive non-native plants with northern Virginia Natives.