invasive - Tallgrass Restoration LLC

Plant Profile: Crown Vetch (Securigera varia)

May 5, 2025 Plant ProfileTallgrassWeeds

If you’re a gardener or a friend to bees, you may have been tempted to plant crown vetch in your flower beds. It grows quickly, it’s easy to take care of, and its flowers are pretty and prolific. Yet while…

Plant Profile: Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea)

April 1, 2025 Plant ProfileTallgrassWeeds

Few invasive species cause more havoc in our wetlands than reed canary grass, or RCG for short. Nearly ubiquitous, this seemingly unremarkable grass has been taking over our streams, marshes, and meadows for decades, leaving little room for other plant…

Carpet of lesser celandine crowding out the native spring ephemerals.

Plant Profile: Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)

March 17, 2025 Plant ProfileTallgrassWeeds

In the early spring, you may be walking along rivers and streams and notice a stunning display of yellow and green. While this carpet of flowers may be beautiful, it has a more sinister side, replacing all other spring wildflowers…

Plant Profile: Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

July 27, 2023 Plant ProfileTallgrassWeeds

When we are working in a natural area, people will frequently ask our crews what we are doing, and why, and having a beautiful purple flower that was once sold at garden centers being removed or treated with herbicide will…

2nd year garlic mustard bolted with white flowers.

Plant Profile: Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

May 17, 2023 Plant ProfileTallgrassWeeds

If you ever volunteered at your local forest preserve, you may find yourself in the woods pulling garlic mustard. Some organizations across the country even hold competitions to see who can pull the most. But what is it about garlic…