Introducing plants that are native to the area is a small way to increase biodiversity and support local bees, butterflies, birds and more, but consumers are warned to exercise caution before buying potted plants from a retail outlet.
Garden centres and greenhouses are selling plants labelled as native to Ontario that are actually imported from the United States or do not naturally occur where they are sold, according to Brendon Samuels, PhD candidate in Biology at Western University in London, Ont.
The Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation says “horticulture is the most significant pathway for the introduction of Invasive Alien Plants.” Legislation in Canada is “out-of-date and fragmented” and responsibility is unclear, the coalition added.
The Value-for-Money Audit: Management of Invasive Species from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, released last November, stated that “52 per cent of all intentional introductions of invasive plants in Canada occur through imports of plants used for landscaping or ornamental purposes.”
At least six of 30 invasive plants mentioned in the report can easily be purchased at garden centres, nurseries and home improvement retailers (creeping jenny, goutweed, Norway maple, periwinkle, spearmint and winter-creeper).
Is it really native?
While invasive plants for sale without any label stating so is a concern on the whole, Samuels warns that consumers can be caught unaware by plants being mislabeled as native.
“You might read a label on a plant that says, ‘this is Ontario native.’ The truth is that that plant may have been grown in the United States. It may have been imported,” he explained.
“The species might occur in parts of Ontario, (but) that doesn’t mean it grows everywhere in Ontario … There’s very little in the way of regulation that says growers and distributors of these plants need to label them a certain way.”
Samuels has seen Echinacea purpurea, known as purple coneflower, labelled as native to Ontario even though it does not occur in the province naturally. Liatris spicata, known as dense blazing star or prairie feather, and Stylophorum diphyllum, known as celandine poppy, do occur naturally in the southern tip of Ontario but can be bought further north outside of the native range, he added.
Most trilliums for sale in greenhouses in Ontario and labelled as Ontario Native are imported from the United States, Samuels said, which over time can “lead to more mixing of indigenous and introduced genetic materials within local populations of those species.”
Samuels also takes issue with plants labelled native that are actually cultivars, meaning they are varieties selectively bred, usually for their appearance.
“I have a Liatris spicata that I purchased from a greenhouse last year where it was labelled Ontario Native (the species is listed as Threatened in Ontario). It wasn’t until several months later when white flowers appeared that it became obvious I had planted a cultivar (wild Liatris spicata have magenta flowers),” he explained in an email.
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The charitable foundation Maple Leaves Forever says even if cultivars come from native species, because of the way they are bred, “they don’t contribute to genetic diversity the way locally sourced and adapted native plants do.”
Who is responsible?
All three levels of government have a role to play in managing the threat of invasive species.
The Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation said the regulatory tools called for in Canada’s Invasive Alien Species Strategy, developed in 2004, have not been developed.
The coalition also described responsibility over invasive species as “unclear.” As evidence of that, Global News was repeatedly redirected when seeking comment from the federal and Ontario governments.
Environment and Climate Change Canada said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency “is the lead on this topic,” while CFIA referred Global News to the Ontario Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
The CFIA did, however, state that “there is no federal labelling requirement that we are aware of” and also suggested reaching out to the Competition Bureau.
“The Bureau promotes truth in advertising in the marketplace by discouraging deceptive business practices and by encouraging the provision of sufficient information to enable informed consumer choice,” a spokesperson for the independent agency said.
“As the Competition Bureau is obliged by law to conduct its work confidentially, we can’t comment on the situation mentioned in your request. To determine whether a claim raises concerns under the Competition Act and whether an investigation should be conducted, the Bureau needs to complete a thorough review of all the facts.”
Provincially, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs redirected comment to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry which stated that the CFIA “establishes and maintains policies and standards for the horticulture industry” to prevent invasive species from entering Canada.
“Ontario’s Invasive Species Act provides regulatory tools to address the sale of invasive species, and several plants that were in trade that were considered the most invasive in Canada and have now been regulated,” a spokesperson said.
“This includes Japanese Knotweed and invasive Phragmites, as well as aquatic invasive plants like water soldier and parrotfeather.”
The ministry said it will continue to collaborate on the issue but pointed to the CFIA as the lead.
Samuels said he would like to see legislation at any level of government that “could provide mandatory conditions for commercial sellers to label their products.”
As for the retailers, Global News reached out to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Loblaws, Sobeys, and Metro on Tuesday.
Loblaws pointed to its new partnership with WWF Canada. At selected Loblaws garden centres in southern and eastern Ontario, consumers can find native plants available for sale with special “In the Zone” tags.
Kate Landry, WWF Canada’s senior manager of community action, restoration and regeneration, said the partnership works with “well-established, reputable native plant growers who are members of the Ontario Native Plant Grower’s Association.”
“Our plants adhere to the following criteria: native to the region in which they are sold; sourced from a local, known, originally wild population; grown from seeds collected ethically (not harvested in a way that harms wild populations); genetically diverse (not propagated clones); wild-type plants (not cultivars/nativars); grown without neonicotinoids and glyphosate; and other pesticide use is limited,” Landry said.
A spokesperson for Metro told Global News that “the plants carried at Metro and Food Basics come labelled by the suppliers we purchase from” and that if a product is promoted as locally grown it has come from an Ontario-based greenhouse.
“We do not advertise plants sold in our garden centres as native to Canada or Ontario,” the spokesperson said.
Home Depot Canada, meanwhile, “works closely with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) when making claims to native plants,” a spokesperson said.
Global News is awaiting responses from Lowe’s and Sobeys.
What can you do?
There’s no need to be embarrassed over a faulty purchase, says Samuels, since even he has been duped.
For Ontarians, he recommends the Grow Me Instead guide, which informs gardeners about common invasive garden plants and suggests alternatives.
There is also the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) PLANTS Database, which allows users to search a species and pull up a map of where it is indigenous and where it has been introduced.
“Based on that information, you can make decisions on what is appropriate to plant specific to where you are.”
The Nature Conservancy of Canada recommends consumers source plants and seeds locally and that they ask staff about where their plants are grown.
While the Competition Bureau was unable to comment on the situation, citing its obligations “by law to conduct its work confidentially,” the bureau “encourages anyone who suspects an individual or a business of engaging in deceptive marketing activities to file a complaint via our online form.”
Lastly, Samuels suggested altering what time of year you typically prepare the garden.
“Although May Two Four weekend is an exciting time to be out in the garden, actually for growing native, the best time of year to harvest and put plants in the ground is in the fall because you can extract seeds from plants or you can attend a community plant exchange.”
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