PUBLIC GARDENS as SENTINELS concept

Due to their unique status as living museums of plants from around the world, public gardens and arboreta can play a unique and pro-active role in assessing which non-native plants exhibit invasive tendencies. These institutions have the access and staff expertise to observe the reproduction and spread (or lack there-of) of plants that are not well known and may not be available in the horticultural trade, and can make recommendations about these plants' capacity to become invasive based on those observations.

About the PGSIP Working Group

The PGSIP Working Group seeks collaborative and proactive approaches to implementing best practices and voluntary codes of conduct around invasive plant issues in the public garden sector. The working group and the development of this database are generously supported with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute for Food and Agriculture and via the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center. Participating institutions include: The Morton Arboretum, Dawes Arboretum, Holden Arboretum, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Midwest Invasive Plant Network, Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, Royal Botanical Gardens, and Sustainable Conservation.

About the PGSIP Database

The PGSIP Database was built using the Botanical Research And Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS) developed by Oxford University. Due to the flexibility and scalability of the BRAHMS system the PGSIP team chose this application for tracking the invasive species plant information.

Contact us

If you have any feedback or issues with the website please email PGSIPAdmin@mortonarb.org. We will get back to you as soon as possible.