One gardener in Florida got lucky by noticing the troubling properties of their newly purchased plant before adding it to their garden.
After finding interesting plant bulbs at their local Costco, they grabbed them and brought them home. What they didn't realize, though, was that it was a colocasia esculenta. In a post on Reddit showing the offending item, they noted that the plant is "highly invasive (at least in Florida)."
"Please don't plant," they added, later adding in the comments section, "I didn't read the fine print and thought I scored some true elephant ears. Unfortunately, these are the invasive knockoffs. They choke out native water plants and replicate more quickly."
The situation could have gotten problematic quickly. According to the Southeast Exotic Plant Pest Council, colocasia esculenta "easily invades wetland areas, swamps, blackwater streams, and riverine forests." The organization notes it provides little wildlife habitat value and can "completely eliminate" native plant species, which would massively affect the local ecosystem.
Native plants are a welcome addition to any garden. They require little maintenance thanks to being suited to local soil types and weather conditions and they encourage the presence of essential pollinators — which are responsible for the growth of a third of the world's food supply.
Seeing these plants taken over by invasives that simply shouldn't be there can be heartbreaking after all the work you've put into making your garden a special place. It's also a nightmare to remove many of these persistent, fast-spreading species. Speak to anyone who has had to deal with English ivy or bamboo, for example, and they'll tell you some horror stories.
Redditors could not believe that Costco would be so irresponsible about what they were selling.
"I'm surprised Florida allows the import of them at all!" one user said, with another suggesting they "write to headquarters."
"I'd definitely bring that to their attention," added another. "One of their mantras is not to break the law and they have a sustainability commitment."
"These things are a pain to get rid of and burn your skin," one Redditor lamented. "We had to wear gloves to rip them out of our last garden."
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