This horror story starts so innocently. You bring home from the nursery a pretty little flower or a pert green vine. You give this new plant a home in your garden. Water it, feed it and watch it grow.

And grow and grow. It's wondrous how it thrives.

But then, this single plant overwhelms its neighbors, expanding like magic to wipe out the competition. It strangles bushes, topples fences and can invade the house as it grows out of control.

"The British have a term for them: garden thugs," said Don Shor of Davis' Redwood Barn Nursery. "That's exactly what they are."

To read the whole story, click here: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/21/3634363/beat-garden-thugssure-some-inva...