In Defense of Nature

 CONDON'S CORNER

Everyone Should Have A Mimosa Tree

© Marlene A. Condon 2026 All Rights Reserved 

  [Published July 28, 2026, by The Daily Progress, the daily newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia and published July 30, 2026, by The News Virginian, the daily newspaper of Waynesboro, Virginia.] 

After you drive by sprayed and now yellowed Mimosa trees around Charlottesville, you might want to contact the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Please let them know it’s not smart to destroy limited food sources for wildlife (bees, butterflies, moths, caterpillars, birds, and mammals) in developed areas where food is already in short supply, thanks to the human obsession with “neatness”.

Everyone Should Have a Mimosa Tree

On June 9, I happened to be on Hillsdale Drive in Albemarle County where I was extremely dismayed to see that most, if not all, of the Mimosa trees had been sprayed and were now yellow. Thanks to Governor Spanberger’s recent signing of four bills into law that will supposedly “work to prevent and manage the spread of invasive plants across the Commonwealth”, someone had apparently gotten right out there to spray poisons on Albemarle County property to kill these trees that are considered “invasive”.

 

[Note: I tried for weeks to find out from local government officials who had performed this task but was never provided an answer.]

 

https://www.29news.com/2026/04/12/four-bills-targeting-spread-invasive-plants-signed-into-virginia-law/

 

Lauren Taylor, executive director of Blue Ridge PRISM, claimed in this same news release that “people are recognizing the harms that these [invasive plants] are causing to our farms, to our parks, to our waterways, to our own backyards, and to the wildlife that we cherish”. However, the truth is more akin to these folks simply having a bad case of selective botanophobia, in which they believe alien plants are harmful or dangerous to our world.

 

https://worldlawyersforum.org/news/four-bills-targeting-spread-of-invasive-plants-signed-into-virginia-law/

 

Ms. Taylor went on to say that “Invasive plants are all around us and they are causing harm to the things that we love”, which refers to them “negatively impacting our children’s future and our grandchildren’s future — and removing invasive plants, controlling invasive plants is really key to our quality of life and the quality for people’s future.”

 

However, the truth is far different from this assessment, and everyone can see it for themselves. All you need to do is open your eyes to your environment to ascertain whether these plants are helping our wildlife to survive in the degraded areas where people have planted mainly lawn grass and a few shrubs or trees here and there.

 

If you truly care about our wildlife, I urge you to contact Blue Ridge Prism, Governor Spanberger, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Department of Wildlife Resources, and any organization spouting this misinformation regarding so-called “invasive” plants. [Contact information is provided at the end of the photo section below.]  Tell them plants seem “invasive” only because they can grow in the many degraded areas that people create in which native plants struggle to survive. 

Herewith a small sampling of the critters that could have been helped by those Mimosa trees that were sprayed with herbicides that are not only dangerous to the plants, but also to any insects, birds, or other critters that were on those trees when this action was taken.

 

Make no mistake about it, the destruction of those Mimosa trees—and many other such non-native plants—is literally an environmental crime against nature.

The day-flying Hummingbird Moth was much more common years ago than it is now, perhaps because of Mimosas being sprayed with pesticides that are poisonous to our insects.

 

A Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly obtains nectar at Mimosa blooms.

A long, healthy-looking caterpillar on a Mimosa lets you know it’s been feeding on this tree for some time and is doing well.

An inchworm (caterpillar) on a Mimosa illustrates the diversity of life that makes use of this non-native plant.

A Gray Squirrel grabs a Mimosa seed pod from which it can get the nourishment it requires to maintain health. 

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly feeds itself at Mimosa blooms while providing beauty to the observer.

A female Northern Cardinal feeds upon Mimosa seeds in the author’s backyard.  

CONTACT INFORMATION:

 

Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM), PO Box 119, White Hall, VA 22987

 

Governor Abigail Spanberger, Phone: 1-804-786-2211 Main address: P.O. Box 1475 Richmond, VA 23218

 

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 600 East Main Street, 24th floor,| Richmond, VA 23219-2094 | 804-786-6124

 

Virgina Department of Wildlife Resources, https://dwr.virginia.gov/contact/, Phone: 804-367-1000