Not just a pretty flower, orange hawkweed is terrorizing some Haines gardeners, who would do just about anything to get rid of it.
“I’m actually burning hawkweed right now,” said resident Gina St. Clair. “I just dug some out of my yard and cleaned up my incinerator.”
“There are entire neighborhoods and roadways and yards that are just covered with hawkweed,” she added.
Hawkweeds are in the sunflower family and are related to dandelions. The flowers, which can grow up to nearly two feet tall, have clusters of oval-shaped petals with black-haired stems. According to the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia, they are “emerging as one of the most troublesome, aggressive, invasive plants in the Pacific Northwest.”
The Alaska Division of Agriculture has categorized orange hawkweed (scientifically, hieracium aurantiacum) as a type A ‘Prohibited and Restricted Noxious Weed,’ a classification that means it is currently impacting agricultural or wild lands in Alaska.
Like most invasive plants, orange hawkweed, which is native to Europe, quickly replaces native vegetation and threatens biodiversity. It spreads by producing runners and seeds, forming dense mats and crowding out native plants, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A single plant can generate up to 600 seeds, each of which can be viable for around seven years.
Also known as devil’s paintbrush, the flowers’ beauty has helped it spread. Melissa Aronson, a gardener and cohost of “Garden Conversation” at KHNS, said that even she was an unwitting accomplice.
“When I first moved here, I transplanted a bunch into my yard, not knowing that it was invasive,” she said. “It flourished. It just did so well.”
Once Aronson learned that the plant was invasive, she found that it was not easy to eradicate. “It took me a few years to get rid of it,” she says. “Now if I spot any, I am on it right away.”
“Hawkweed is in a lot of places in the state and its been in a lot of places for a while,” said Gino Graziano, an invasive plants instructor with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Program. “It’s definitely something people should have on their radar, to not spread it.”
Graziano says he receives frequent calls from residents asking for advice on the plant. For infestations of just a few plants, Graziano recommends digging the plants out or using weed barrier fabric. For larger populations, he said, systemic herbicides are most effective.
Most importantly, Graziano says, is not to mow. “It will spread from any root fragments that gets left behind,” he says. “Mowing will probably just help it more than anything.”