ASHS 2025 Conference

Some invasive plants are listed as “prohibited for sale” on the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Noxious Weed List, however many invasive plants are commercially available. Plant This, Not That: A Guide to Avoiding Invasive Plant Species in Florida is a laminated, ring-bound-flipbook written to provide safe alternatives to commonly sold invasive ornamental plants. Perfect for the resident or professionals visiting or running a nursery or garden center, this relevant resource includes 22 invasive plants that are commonly available for sale along with native or Florida-Friendly alternatives. Over 1,350 copies have been sold or distributed, bringing in $14,234. Concepts from the book have been integrated into classes for landscape professionals, industry nursery owners, master gardeners and the general public. Results from the classes show 1.) 367/376 or 97.6% increased their knowledge about the impact invasive species have in Florida, 2.) 371/373 or 99.4% intend to use the information from the class to choose plants that are not invasive, and 3.) 323/344 or 93.9% of participants felt more confident they could identify invasive plant species. Follow up surveys indicated participants used hand pulling to remove invasives (85% or 51/60), avoided invasives from the book (76% or 45/59) and educated others about invasive species (75% or 44/59). Intentional efforts to widely publicize the usefulness of this guidebook and its impact in extension programming have resulted in 11 articles reaching thousands of people, 2 interviews one on NPR and another on the radio, 3 webpages, one press release published on behalf of ASHS, and one journal article in the Journal of Hort Technology.