Honeysuckle—Lonicera maacki

I know it's pretty, and this year, the berries are plump and abundant. But this shrubby, flowering bush is yet another of the virulently invasive species we've inherited from Asia along with Japanese knotweed.

Even though we own 14 acres of land on both sides of the White River and an island in the middle, only an acre or so is considered buildable. The rest can—and has—flooded from time to time. So eventually, everything that's invasive floats downstream to take root here.

In addition to this honeysuckle and the Japanese knotweed, we have barberry and garlic mustard and now we're starting to see that giant hogweed. I could spend my life weeding the woods and I do take a machete on my walks from time to time. But it would take an army of volunteers to do just one sweep through our flood plain, and it would be pretty naked down there when we were done.