Butterfly bushes not DOT's handiwork

Question: “How could the state Highway Department have been so ignorant as to plant butterfly bushes along their new bridge from I-5 to Highway 16?

ROB CARSON; Staff writer

Published: 01/16/12 2:13 am | Updated: 01/16/12 6:56 am

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Question: “How could the state Highway Department have been so ignorant as to plant butterfly bushes along their new bridge from I-5 to Highway 16?

That whole terraced area along South Tacoma Way is solid butterfly bushes. They’re pretty, but don’t they know it’s a noxious weed?

Beth, University Place

Answer: It looks like landscaping but, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation, it’s not.

“We didn’t do it,” said Transportation Department spokeswoman Claudia Cornish, who checked into it. “Our landscape folks think the seeds probably were deposited by the wind.”

In the short term, the butterfly bushes on the terrace will be controlled by highway maintenance crews, Cornish said.

“In the long term – a few years out – they will be removed and replaced with a native plant mix that is more traditionally used in our landscape plans.”

Rob Carson: 2533-597-8693
rob.carson@thenewstribune.com

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