Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bill Maynard on August 7, 2009 at 12:02pm

I have worked in the zoo business for some 37 years now and every year new publications come out about what plants are considered toxic. If we did not eat or plant all the plants that were listed we would have nothing to eat at all. Guess it depends on who's book you decide to read and go by. I have even seen Rye Grass listed as toxic. There are the obvious toxic plants which have been known about for years and those should be avoided or monitored. Apple Seeds contain arsenic but you would have to eat a couple of pounds of just seeds and chew each seed to be effected, Cherry Seeds contain Cyanide - same thing. Animals eat poisonous plants all the time, some of the toxins help them to deworm themselves. They know how much to eat or pass thru the parts that are dangerous. It's a crap shoot at best ;)

Permalink Reply by Fama Stephens on August 7, 2009 at 2:04pm

I agree with the general remarks made. Any child, is it's so young it puts things in its mouth or a special needs child who puts things in the mouth, should be watched closely whenever there are outside. my goodness, how many rocks and/or gum have our kids eaten and survived to laugh about it later with their kids. there are many houseplants that are poison if you lunched on them. if you live on a farm; then you might be a little more cautious close to the fence. cattle, sheep,goats, and horses are not known for being real smart when it comes to a diet. my father-in-law cut some hedges and put the brances over the fence and the steers that lunched on them died...dead. very costly mistake. I work with special needs kids and if one of my grandkids had a disorder that prevented them from comprehending directions and facilitated a need to put everything in the mouth; then of course many changes would be made. but for most of us; plant and enjoy! gardens are like life, use caution when needed and take a leap when that what's needed.

Permalink Reply by Pauline Sweeney/Z9 FL on August 7, 2009 at 2:12pm

Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and comments! I am starting from scratch here in FL, the backyard was nothing but grass and 1 small Live Oak tree, so I am trying to learn about southern plants before I plant them. Of course the grandsons are always supervised since they are all under 3 and are learning about gardening even though all they want to do is dig, dig, dig!
The Angel's Trumpet in the picture is not mine but when I saw it, I really wanted one! It is at the Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden (polasek.org) in Winter Park, FL. The gardens are beautifully maintained by volunteers and are very inspiring.
P.

Permalink Reply by Pauline Sweeney/Z9 FL on August 11, 2009 at 11:02am

we were told it was from wading in the nearby brook.......

PJ mitchell said:

LOL reading this just reminded me of something...when I was 5 or 6 years old, I had polio...I remember hearing eating dirt caused it. well , I don't remember eating dirt ...well, maybe a mud pie now and then...just kidding...but for years people believed that. Same thing with plants....
PJ

Permalink Reply by liz joseph on August 12, 2009 at 8:40am

I, too, grow some poisonous plants. I don't have any children (yet), and if my bunny rabbits are outside, I'm with them. I wouldn't leave a child outside by themselves if they were apt to putting anything in their mouthes. Even the wood mulch a lot of us use could render a trip to the ER!!! My rabbits, BTW, from my observation, won't eat anything that they're not supposed to. a lot of animals know what they're to eat and not to.

I have Oleander and Angel's Trumpet. I heard that Angel's Trumpet and Salvia are hallucenigenics... I'm not going to try to find out, but I've heard that you can smoke the leaves and go on a 'trip' without moving your feet. I have them because I think they're beautiful and I enjoy looking at them and smelling them!!!! OMG they smell so sweet!!!!

I think that anyone who is apprehensive about growing poisonous plants should just use their better judgement. It would be unfortunate to miss out on such gorgeous plants due to someone's clumsiness, child or adult. IMO, I think children should be supervised as long as they 'don't know any better'. I'll have to enforce that rule once I have little ones running around my yard :)

Permalink Reply by liz joseph on August 12, 2009 at 8:49am

I just found this link online:

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/poison/poison.html

It also lists iris, rhododendron, bleeding heart, and foxglove as poisonous... which I grow. Some are so fatal, there are no symptoms and death is almost instant.

At the bottom of the page it says:
Treat unknown plants with respect, and teach your children to do the same.

I totally agree! Now, I'm not going to go outside and rip out all of my plants, but I'll definitely teach the kids on my street about them. Oh, it also said that the leaves of the rhubarb plants are fatal if ingested. That makes me think twice about eating rhubarb pie... How many leaves are mixed into the ones made from large companies? Eh, I'm sure I'll still eat it, but I'll be thinking about the leaves the entire time, LOL.

Permalink Reply by Pauline Sweeney/Z9 FL on August 12, 2009 at 2:20pm

Foxglove (digitalis) is one plant I will never grow - one of the fatal ones. I agree that education and vigilance is the best alternative to not growing some of the most beautful plants/flowers I've seen. My parents grew rhubarb so we knew the leaves were never to be eaten! I don't like it anyway but I'm sure commercial growers would know too.

liz joseph said:

I just found this link online:

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/poison/poison.html

It also lists iris, rhododendron, bleeding heart, and foxglove as poisonous... which I grow. Some are so fatal, there are no symptoms and death is almost instant.

At the bottom of the page it says:
Treat unknown plants with respect, and teach your children to do the same.

I totally agree! Now, I'm not going to go outside and rip out all of my plants, but I'll definitely teach the kids on my street about them. Oh, it also said that the leaves of the rhubarb plants are fatal if ingested. That makes me think twice about eating rhubarb pie... How many leaves are mixed into the ones made from large companies? Eh, I'm sure I'll still eat it, but I'll be thinking about the leaves the entire time, LOL.

Permalink Reply by Heaven on October 28, 2009 at 9:13pm

There is a balance of these plants in nature, and I believe that we should continue that balance in our own gardens.

Permalink Reply by BoiseNoise on October 31, 2009 at 1:45pm

I had small children when I started gardening, and since we had just purchased an old house with a large back yard garden, I had no idea what was poisonous and what wasn't. I made every effort to teach the boys not to put plants into their mouths . . . but they did, anyway, even when they were old enough that you would have thought they would have known better (they weren't "special needs" kids, either; in fact, they were unusually intelligent), and even when I was standing right nearby. If you are going to be gardening with small children around, there will inevitably be time when you take your focus off them for just a few moments, and that's long enough for them to eat something poisonous. I remember one time when Spencer was about four, I was cutting back dead stuff in the garden in early spring and the quince had beautiful coral buds on it that looked just like berries. I just knew that he probably would want to try one, so I specifically told him, "Spencer, those are not berries . . . they are flowers . . . and don't you DARE eat one, because they might be poisonous." The next thing I knew, I looked behind me, and he had sampled one! I called Poison Control and they told me that quince buds are not poisonous. The same thing happened a different time with Oregon Grape berries . . . the boys were in school by then, and I came outside and found that they had just consumed a fairly large number of the berries. I was terrified, and called poison control, again to hear the good news that these berries were perfectly edible. I can assure you that I did NOT try growing angel's trumpet or ricinus until the boys were considerably older!

Permalink Reply by Pauline Sweeney/Z9 FL on November 1, 2009 at 12:36pm

I totally understand. My grandson just turned 3 and since he gave up his 'binky', lots of things go right to his mouth! Why take a chance when there are so many other plants to grow and enjoy.

BoiseNoise said:

I had small children when I started gardening, and since we had just purchased an old house with a large back yard garden, I had no idea what was poisonous and what wasn't. I made every effort to teach the boys not to put plants into their mouths . . . but they did, anyway, even when they were old enough that you would have thought they would have known better (they weren't "special needs" kids, either; in fact, they were unusually intelligent), and even when I was standing right nearby. If you are going to be gardening with small children around, there will inevitably be time when you take your focus off them for just a few moments, and that's long enough for them to eat something poisonous. I remember one time when Spencer was about four, I was cutting back dead stuff in the garden in early spring and the quince had beautiful coral buds on it that looked just like berries. I just knew that he probably would want to try one, so I specifically told him, "Spencer, those are not berries . . . they are flowers . . . and don't you DARE eat one, because they might be poisonous." The next thing I knew, I looked behind me, and he had sampled one! I called Poison Control and they told me that quince buds are not poisonous. The same thing happened a different time with Oregon Grape berries . . . the boys were in school by then, and I came outside and found that they had just consumed a fairly large number of the berries. I was terrified, and called poison control, again to hear the good news that these berries were perfectly edible. I can assure you that I did NOT try growing angel's trumpet or ricinus until the boys were considerably older!

Permalink Reply by Ronald G Maxwell z5/MI on December 19, 2009 at 6:35pm

All growing up I learned about plants and their effect if you were to eat or touch. I can't even plant a veggy garden without touching a poisonous plant. Did you know for years tomatoes were considered poisonous, because the vines are deadly. They belong to the nightshade family. Potato vines are the same way. We accidentally killed some young hogs by giving them vines off potato plants. Certain seeds are toxic as well. I forget the name of the weed ( stink weed) that has a white trumpet flower and the seeds you suck on you can get a cheap trip from them. Mushrooms have a toxin in them, but if your body can handle it they taste great. I never used to be allergic to poison ivy. Did you know that every time you come in contact with it, It breaks down your immune system. Now I catch it if I just walk by It. Teach your kids from the time they are little and are around the yard the different plants, trees & vines. There are more house plants that are toxic than you realize. I'm still learning and hope to for a long time yet. That is why I joined this website. Certain leaves of trees are toxic, cherry leaves have a prussic acid in them. Orange leaves as well as peels have citric acid in them, Very Flammable. Be Careful with all plants, seeds, and roots.

Permalink Reply by Pauline Sweeney/Z9 FL on December 30, 2009 at 10:35am

thanks, Ronald. Sorry it took so long to answer you - the Holidays! I do realize many plants and their parts are poisonous but I guess the level of toxicity is what concerns me. I've heard that Angel's Trumpet gives a good high right before the coma! My son (30) is extremely allergic to poison ivy. Most people who get it have a sensitivity but at the first sign of rash he needs steriods as quickly as possible! He lives near Phoenix, AZ now and hasn't come across any ivy there yet. His brother (33) played in the same places and never got it - just like my Dad.
As for citric acid, as kids we used to squeeze orange peels and light the spray on fire!

Ronald G Maxwell said:

All growing up I learned about plants and their effect if you were to eat or touch. I can't even plant a veggy garden without touching a poisonous plant. Did you know for years tomatoes were considered poisonous, because the vines are deadly. They belong to the nightshade family. Potato vines are the same way. We accidentally killed some young hogs by giving them vines off potato plants. Certain seeds are toxic as well. I forget the name of the weed ( stink weed) that has a white trumpet flower and the seeds you suck on you can get a cheap trip from them. Mushrooms have a toxin in them, but if your body can handle it they taste great. I never used to be allergic to poison ivy. Did you know that every time you come in contact with it, It breaks down your immune system. Now I catch it if I just walk by It. Teach your kids from the time they are little and are around the yard the different plants, trees & vines. There are more house plants that are toxic than you realize. I'm still learning and hope to for a long time yet. That is why I joined this website. Certain leaves of trees are toxic, cherry leaves have a prussic acid in them. Orange leaves as well as peels have citric acid in them, Very Flammable. Be Careful with all plants, seeds, and roots.

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