SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Delaware Senate Bill 22 goes into effect on Friday. This bill will ban the sale and importation of 37 different plant species in the State of Delaware. People are split on whether they agree with this ban.
Douglas Tallamy, a University of Delaware Entomology and Wildlife Ecology Professor, is in full support of this bill in Delaware. The reason he supports this bill is due to the growing problem of invasive species in the state of Delaware. An invasive plant species as defined by Senate Bill 22 is any non-native species of plant which can “Result in widespread dispersal and establishment, Out-compete other species in the same area, or Become established in natural areas in the state.” The biggest problems with invasive species is they do not support the local food web, like native plants do. In order to take care of the invasive species that have spread throughout the state, you first have to bring them in. Douglas Tallamy put it this way, ”It makes no sense to talk about getting rid of these plants when we sell them in our nurseries. So step 1 is to recognize culturally that this not a good idea.” Dr. Tallamy noted that this ban is not all we should be doing. Tallamy is a leader in what’s called the Homegrown National Park movement, which encourages homeowners and businesses across the country to convert their own landscaping to native plant life.
The bill also has its opponents. Katie Short of East Coast Garden Center in Millsboro has some issues with the bill as a whole. While she does support the ban of most of the plants on the Invasive Species list, she noted a couple changes she would like. For one, Katie hopes that the bill can eventually be changed from its current format to allow for sterile versions of these plants and also remove one particular plant: Creeping Jenny. Katie is on the Native Species Council which is a group that is working on improvements to the current version of the bill.
For a full list of the banned plant species, click here.