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Garden centres free of invasive plants

creeping bellflower

The City of Calgary is pleased to partner with local garden centres in 2011 on an innovative program aimed at weeding out threatening invasive species from store shelves. Together, the businesses listed below and The City are making it safer for Calgarians to select attractive, hardy and non-invasive ornamentals. Each of these stores has signed up to be a Certified Invasives-Free Retailer.

How the program works

Through consultation and partnership with local plant retailers, Landscape Alberta Nursery Trades Association (LANTA), federal and provincial governments, The City of Calgary developed a voluntary invasives-free certification status for greenhouses and garden centres committed to providing Calgarians with a shopping environment free of recognized invasive species.

Whether you are a long-time gardener or relatively new to Calgary's growing conditions, you can easily help safeguard Calgary's parks and neighbourhoods by selecting non-invasive species for your yard. When selecting plants, make sure that you aren't inadvertently buying a species that is not only illegal in Alberta but likely to spread out of your garden and threaten nearby lands. Plants that find themselves on the Alberta Weed Control Act list have proven to be aggressively spreading invaders that are damaging to the environment and costly for farmers, municipalities and private citizens who are required by law to control them. No plant is worth sacrificing Calgary's rich natural capital, no matter how pretty!

For more information on damaging invasive species to avoid, see the list below of plants that Calgary Invasives-Free Certified Retailers refuse to carry in their stores or check out the Alberta Weed Control Act Regulation for a complete list of provincially regulated invaders.

 

Certified invasives-free retailers

If you are a plant nursery or garden centre in and around the Calgary area and wish to become a certified invasives-free business, please contact Parks.

Invasive plants to avoid in Calgary

Scientific Name Common Name(s) and Ornamental Varieties
Campanula rapunculoides Creeping Bellflower, Rover Bellflower, Garden Bluebell, Creeping Bluebell , Purple Bell, Garden Harebell, Creeping Campanula
Carum carvi Wild Caraway, Caraway
Clematis tanqutica Yellow Clematis, Golden Clematis, Russian Virgin's Bower, Clematis var. 'Golden Tiara', Clematis var. 'Radar Love', Old Man's Beard, Chinese Yellow Clematis, Clematis var. 'Korean Beauty', Clematis var. 'Helios', Clematis var. 'Bill Mackenzie'
Dipsacus Fullonum Common Teasel
Echium vulgare Blueweed
Gypsophila paniculata Common Baby's Breath, Perennial Baby's Breath, Perennial Gypsophila, Tall Gypsophill, Maiden's Breath
Hypericum perforatum Common St. John's Wort
Impatiens glandulifera Policeman's Helmet, Himalayan Balsam, Himalayan Impatiens, Ornamental Jewelweed, Kiss-me-on-the-mountain, Indian Touch-me-not, Indian Balsam, Poor Man's Orchid
Linaria dalmatica Dalmation Toadflax, Broadleaf Toadflax, Smooth Toadflax, Wild Snapdragon
Linaria vulgaris Yellow Toadflax , Common Toadflax, Butter-and-Eggs, Wild Snapdragon, Common Linaria, Flaxweed, Ramstead, Eggs-and-bacon, Perennial Snapdragon, Jacob's Ladder, Rabbit Flower, Impudent Lawyer
Lythrum salicaria Purple Loosestrife, Spiked Loosestrife, Morden Pink, Fire Candle, Purple Lythrum, Bouquet Violet
Potentilla recta Sulfur Cinquefoil
Ranunculus acris Tall Buttercup
Rhamnus cathartica European Buckthorn
Silene vulgaris/S. cucubalus Bladder Campion
Tamarix chinensis Salt Cedar, Chinese Tamarisk
Tamarix parvifolia Salt Cedar, Smallflower Tamarisk
Tamarix ramosissima Salt Cedar, Tamarisk, 'Pink Cascade' Tamarisk, 'Summer Glow' Tamarisk, Rosea Tamarisk
Tanacetum vulgare Common Tansy, Garden Tansy, Golden Buttons, Bitter Buttons, Parsley Fern, Hind-head, Ginger Plant