That giant thing behind the feeder is a neighbor's burning bush. It has since been removed.

Some of you may have already heard the earth-shattering news: a plant scientist at the University of Connecticut has come up with a non-invasive Euonymus, aka “Burning Bush.”

OK, I get the part about how great it is that this new euonymous will be sterile, solving the problem the previous cultivar had, namely producing thousands of seeds that germinated, grew, and crowded out other plants.

The article I read put the total annual sales of the nasty invasive Euonymus alatus at $38 million. They don’t even sell it in NH and MA. People just looooove that red fall color, but they usually don’t bother to keep it in check, resulting in the monster in the photo above.

If the new sterile cultivar sells, UConn and Dr. Yi Li, the scientist who developed it, stand to make a bundle, since they hold the patent.

As I have evolved as a gardener,  I have come to the point where I am trying not to plant shrubs that just look nice and don’t provide anything to wildlife or pollinators. You won’t see me buying one – even the non invasive cultivar –  anytime soon.