Update from NDA

It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again, but it is! Nursery license renewal season is here. Between now and December 31st, you can go online and renew your license for the 2024 year. As a reminder, a nursery license is required for anyone distributing nursery stock in the state.

Nursery stock shall mean all botanically classified hardy perennial or biennial plants, trees, shrubs, and vines, either domesticated or wild, cuttings, grafts, scions, buds, bulbs, rhizomes, or roots thereof, and such plants and plant parts for, or capable of, propagation. This excludes plants grown for indoor use, annual plants, florist stock, cut flowers, sod, turf, onions, potatoes, or seeds of any such plant.

In regards to the latest on the invasive pest front, Spotted Lanternfly has been officially detected in Illinois. This is the furthest west location to date (originally detected in Pennsylvania in 2014). Spotted lanternflies are invasive and can be spread long distances by people who move infested material or items containing egg masses. Juvenile spotted lanternflies (nymphs), and adults prefer to feed on the invasive tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) but also feed on a wide range of crops and plants, including grapes, apples, hops, walnuts, and hardwood trees.

States with infestations have found egg masses on pretty much any type of surface. Train cars have been a culprit of spreading the insect further than they would have naturally spread on their own in a relatively short period of time. Nursery pots and containers are therefore also a major source of spread between states. Please keep an eye out for anything that you think might be suspicious and let your inspector or myself know if you find anything of concern.