2026 Survey Results:
2nd Annual Virginia Retail Garden Center Invasive Plant Survey

From April 1, 2026 - September 30, 2026 the Virginia Invasive Plant Coalition conducted the second annual statewide survey of invasive plants* for sale at retail garden centers.

Below are the results. Thank you to all the volunteers who made this happen!

Congratulations to Hunter Bengston of Roanoke, VA — Hunter won our survey sweepstakes and selected Ninebark Nursery for his $100 native plant gift card.

*Virginia Invasive Plant Species List, Virginia Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

166 Visits

60 Cities

123 Retail Garden Centers

55 species evaluated

39 Invasive Plant Species Found

4.5 = average invasive plant species found per visit

6 = average invasive plant species found per location

Range:

High = 19

Low = 0

Most Common Species Found

Butterfly Bush 95 visits 🌿 English Ivy 69 visits 🌿 Nandina 79 visits 🌿 Periwinkle 63 visits 🌿 Japanese Barberry 58 visits 🌿 Moneywort 61 visits 🌿 Burning Bush 44 visits 🌿 Greater Periwinkle 19 visits 🌿 Japanese Spirea 45 visits 🌿 Fountain Grass 29 visits 🌿 Chinese Silvergrass 30 visits 🌿 Chinese Privet 20 visits 🌿 Winter Creeper 19 visits 🌿 Border Privet 14 visits 🌿 Leatherleaf Mahonia 14 visits 🌿 Sweet Autumn Clematis 11 visits 🌿 Chinese Wisteria 10 visits 🌿 Callery Pear 9 visits 🌿 Japanese Wisteria 9 visits 🌿 Yellow Flag 6 visits 🌿 Linden Arrow-Wood 5 visits 🌿 Water Hyacinth 5 visits 🌿Creeping Charlie 4 visits 🌿 Five-leaf Akebia 4 visits 🌿 Golden Bamboo 4 visits 🌿 Mimosa 4 visits 🌿

Cities

  • Abingdon

  • Alexandria

  • Anandale

  • Arlington

  • Ashland

  • Barboursville

  • Bedford

  • Blacksburg

  • Chantilly

  • Charlottesville

  • Chesapeake

  • Chester

  • Christiansburg

  • Colonial Heights

  • Fair Oaks

  • Fairfax

  • Falls Church

  • Forest

  • Franklin

  • Fredericksburg

  • Gainsville

  • Glen Allen

  • Harrisonburg

  • Haymarket

  • Henrico

  • Herndon

  • Leesburg

  • Manassas

  • Manassas Park

  • McLean

  • Mechanicsville

  • Merrifield

  • Midlothian

  • Moneta

  • New Church

  • Newport News

  • Norfolk

  • Onancock

  • Richmond

  • Roanoke

  • Ruckersville

  • South Riding

  • Staunton

  • Stuart

  • Stuarts Draft

  • Suffolk

  • Vienna

  • Vinton

  • Virginia Beach

  • Warrenton

  • Waynesboro

  • Weyers Cave/Grottoes

  • Williamsburg

  • Wise

  • Woodbridge

Sample Photos Submitted

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