Record & Share Invasive Plant Data

Our guest speaker this month was Michelle Beloskur. She is the Midwest Invasive Plant Network (opens in a new tab)’s Director. She began in this role in March 2022. As part of her role, Michelle co-directs the Public Gardens as Sentinels against Invasive Plants initiative (opens in a new tab). In our Coffee Chat, Michelle gives an overview of Morton Arboretum’s PGSIP initiative and explains the importance of exporting data for non-native plants that exhibit invasive tendencies.  Also in the presentation is how IrisBG supports this initiative with the PGSIP add-on. (opens in a new tab)

Thanks to all of you who joined us! The Coffee Chat attendees was a mixture with 18% novice users, 73% intermediate users, 9% advanced users.

The map below shows the gardens and arboreta represented by those who registered for the Coffee Chat - home offices not taken into consideration.   

A few slides from Michelle’s Presentation:

New Plant Alert
As of September 2025, 66 public gardens and arboreta across North America are participating in Public Gardens as Sentinels against Invasive Plants (PGSIP). These gardens have shared observations of plants escaping cultivation, contributing to a database with nearly 1,100 plant records. These contributions enable PGSIP to issue Plant Alerts to raise awareness of ornamental plants that have been recorded and ranked by participating gardens and recommend actions to prevent their introduction and spread into the wider landscape. Japanese tree lilac has been recorded by 10 gardens in the Midwest/Great Lakes region. Visit the Plant Alert (opens in a new tab) page to learn more or see the attached document for a Plant Alert about Syringa reticulata (opens in a new tab). To see a list of other commonly recorded taxa, visit the PGSIP Data Dashboard. (opens in a new tab)

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PGSIP 2026 Workshops
If you’ve been thinking about participating in PGSIP, attending a data sharing workshop is a great way to get started. Public garden and arboreta staff meet at beautiful host garden locations to learn more about PGSIP and to share their observational data with the initiative. These events are great opportunities for learning and networking with other gardens in your region. Register by emailing: mipn@mortonarb.org.

Workshop Locations and Dates:

• California Botanic Garden: February 25, 2026
• Pinecrest Gardens, Florida: March 19, 2026
• Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden: August 28, 2026