# @ahs_gardening on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DXRlH_-jiLK
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64150215-ahs-gardening-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4ffd9f68f7.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-18T13:28:35.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Horticultural Society | American Gardener Magazine (@ahs_gardening) — https://gondola.cc/ahs_gardening

## Caption

The most American plant that isn’t American⁠
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Tumbleweed — Salsola tragus⁠
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It arrived by accident—hidden in a shipment of flaxseed from Eastern Europe in the 1870s—and never left. Today, tumbleweed moves across the landscape like it belongs here, scattering thousands of seeds as it goes.⁠
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Efforts to control it have been relentless.⁠
So has its response—adapt, expand, persist.⁠
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And somewhere along the way, it became a symbol. Western films, roadside decor, even folklore have recast it as shorthand for the American frontier.⁠
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But tumbleweed isn’t a relic of wild, untouched land.⁠
It’s an invasive species that wrote itself into the story.⁠
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Have you seen tumbleweed where you live—or only in movies?⁠
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Not a member? Join us at us at ahsgardening.org/join to become a member and gain full access to American Gardener magazine. ⁠
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Writer: Sue Lisk ⁠
📸 creds: Noah Wuff/Wikimedia; courtesy of Russ Kleinman; City of Chandler, Arizona/Instagram ⁠
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#tumbleweeds #invasiveplants #invasives #wildwest #western #westernplants #russianthistle #salsolatragus #ahsgardening #americanhorticulturalsociety #americangardener #planticon #sustainablegardening #gardening

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## Tags

wildwest, tumbleweeds, gardening, ahsgardening, westernplants, sustainablegardening, invasiveplants, western, planticon, invasives, americanhorticulturalsociety, salsolatragus, russianthistle, americangardener

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