Getting to know Giant Hogweed

This time of year, the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project's Pest Hotline gets a lot of calls and emails about Giant Hogweed. Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is a large, stout plant in the Carrot family, and due to its toxic sap, is a federally listed noxious weed. It has been present in Massachusetts for several years. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is actively managing all hogweed populations with the goal of eradication.

If you think you've seen Giant Hogweed, we encourage you to file a Pest Report or call our Pest Hotline at 617-626-1779. But first, take a look at this excellent resource from IPANE that will help you determine if you've really got Giant Hogweed, or one of several similar-looking plants:



Related resources:

• A list of confirmed sightings in Massachusetts
• Our Giant Hogweed fact sheet
  

(Photo by David Marrison, Ohio State University Extension)

Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts

Tuesday and Thursday of this week the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts held its annual Speaker's Program Workshop. I participated on both days and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet folks from garden clubs across the state (and to meet all the other speakers as well!), speak to them about this project, and encourage them to sign up for our Pest Alert email list.


The presentation was set up to have multiple panels that can be swapped out depending on the interests of the audience, with two pests per panel, plus the project logo and URL and two smaller panels describing the project in general. For the garden clubs, I featured:

• Asian longhorned beetle and the Emerald ash borer
  
• Viburnum leaf beetle and Daylily rust
  
• Giant hogweed and Mile-a-minute vine

It took quite a bit of work (and help from kind coworkers) to produce those posters, but they'll be getting a lot of use this year, I am sure.