The latest round of plants added to Pennsylvania’s noxious weeds list reads like a directory of popular landscaping options. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), callery or Bradford pear trees (Pyrus calleryana) and Ravenna grass (Saccharum ravennae; Tripidium ravennae) have been staples of urban and particularly suburban landscaping for decades. All three are invasive species whose seeds are readily spread by bird droppings. But the barberry is a particular problem for multiple reasons, according to plant biologists. First, native animals do not browse it for food. That has made it very popular as a landscaping plant, but it also makes it that much easier for barberry to spread to new areas. Second, its sharp spines make it an ideal hideout for the white-footed mouse, the main source of Lyme disease in Pennsylvania. Black-legged ticks also love the humid atmosphere inside the closely packed leaves of a barberry plant. And with plenty of white-footed mice to feed on, more ticks then acquire Lyme in the state that already ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for Lyme disease infections. But even as the commercial sale of barberry and other entries on the noxious weeds list is being phased out — sales will be completely banned by 2023, according to state agriculture officials — local nurseries aren’t all that worried about lagging sales. "Most people who want barberry really just want something colorful,” said Chris Wright, a horticulturist at Plumline Nursery in Murrysville. "But it’s also easy to grow, and if that’s what people are looking for, there are lots of options like chokeberry and grow-low sumac. Those are tough-as-nails shrubs.” Master gardeners at the Penn State Extension suggested coralberry, inkberry holly, winterberry holly, Virginia sweetspire and Northern bayberry as substitutes for barberry shrubs. "I’ve been suggesting a couple of things, some of the smaller ninebark varieties that are coming out like ‘Little Devil,’” said Plumline horticulturist Aaron Grabiak. "There’s also weigela, smaller shrubs with purple leaves, similar to the color of barberry that lots of people like. We sell a lot of ‘Spilled Wine’ weigela, which is a smaller one. There’s also a dwarf currant that I really like for small hedging.” Laurie Curl, owner at Hahn Nursery, Garden Center & Greenhouses in Ross, said there are also a wide variety of alternatives to the Bradford pear. "We’ve been phasing them out for years, since we started hearing about them being invasive in other states,” Curl said. "There’s so many options, and it depends on what a customer is interested in. If it’s the early spring flowers — Bradfords are one of the first to bloom — there are gorgeous redbuds out there, magnolias, cherries. It’s easy to switch them because there are so many choices.” In Allegheny Township, Kiski Plaza Garden & Feed owner Dave Vargo also recommended weigela for those with an eye toward the deep reds and purples of Japanese barberry. "‘Wine & Roses’ weigela is a good one, or Coppertina ninemark, which comes in a variety of sizes,” Vargo said. "Neither of those have jaggers on them, and they also have more predominant flowers.” Penn State Master Gardener Louisa Fordyce recommended focusing on native plants such as spicebush, buttonbush and weigela. She will be on hand to help gardeners pick and choose at the Delmont Public Library’s May 14 plant sale, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the library, 75 School St. See the breakout box for additional plant sales in the area. "We’ll have some native plants like milkweeds and lobelias,” Fordyce said. "There will be lots of annuals that benefit pollinators, such as zinnias, cosmos, tithonia, and herbs that butterflies lay eggs on, such as dill, fennel and parsley.” Wright said the experimental nature of the landscaping industry means the ban on barberry, Callery pears and Ravenna grass is probably just a small bump in the road. "They’re coming out with new cultivars every year,” he said. "I think the state putting a ban on these probably won’t slow sales down much, because horticulturists are always developing new varieties.” That has happened already at PlumLine, where employee Mike Gearhard was showing off the "Worry-Free” cultivar of barberry, which comes in the same greens and purples as its soon-to-be-banned cousins, but is sterile and cannot produce viable seeds. "We just got word last week from the state that these are fine to continue selling,” Gearhard said. Curl said "Worry-Free” is a patented brand developed by horticulturists at the University of Connecticut. "Marketing is catching up in this industry,” she said. "There’s a lot more varieties that they’re also working on.” Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter . and help us continue covering the stories that matter to you and your community.