Beware those little gardeners

Be they children or childrens children, puppies and dogs or cats with or without claws.....
for their sakes ~~~ try to learn about your plants.

Some plants (many) are or have parts (seeds, roots ...etc.)that are poisonous, some have tiny ichy hairs, other may have fluids that produce allergy symptoms....swelling, itching and the such. Haven't noticed anyone suffering from breathing problems but I'm not saying it can't happen!

Plants that may not bother you ~ might bother others. An example: moonflowers....no problems all year for anyone in my gardens, but! when a friend of mine pulled hers out in fall with the help of her husband....he swelled up for three days!

Plants that I have taken note on, are:
trumpet vine
moonflower
lilly of the valley
caster bean
stinging nettle
most nightshades


I'll add more as they cross my mind or experiances, please add any you are aware of~
Thanks....lets keep gardening the wonderful, fun and loving experiance God meant it to be!

I was told Datura is poisonous.

Yupper ..... Datura...thanks for adding that. Also a name for moon flowers, some know it with one name some by the other.
There was an article written about kids dying from trying to smoke this plant...sad...But it's not the plants fault of course.

Hand washing and/or gloves are recommened when growing Datura/moonflowers....if your brave or crazy ~~ like me, you'll find out soon enough if it bothers you. Me...I have no problems touching any of these. But the warning still go's...I have seen a few that have suffered....thank God nothing serious tho.

Shelly added a good point to this list....if you know it by another name PLEASE include it.

And I'm not gonna touch stinging nettle ....ever!

Holly, Poinsettia...

I was always told, If the birds don't eat it... I shouldn't either!

Many plants if ingested in excess are poisionous but in little or moderation are not. Read anything on herbal medicine, almost all articles say too much of any one can be bad in one way or another.
poision ivy(very allergic to it), stinging nettle(i know why they call it that!!!) and the prickleys on squash vines bother me.
Foxglove; digitalis is the basis for the chemical drug digoxin which is a heart stimulant, but i'm not pulling out my foxgloves. coneflower, echinacea is good for the immune system, but I'm not going to go graze on my plants.
Dont get paranoid if a plant is labeled potentially dangerous and start yanking everything out. Of course do keep an eye on kids, and I think indoor cats are more likely to chew a "bad" houseplant than the ones that roam outdoors where the same plants might be.
A friend bought a house, a plant in the garden was 'poisionous', he yanked it out. (gee what a hero, rolls my eyes) well he better not grow any onions in his veggie garden then, they are toxins after all.....
And oh lordy! Dont eat tomatoes!!! A friends uncle had pigs, his pigs would not eat a tomato! nononono! He said "I aint eatin nothin a pig wont eat"

CASTOR PLANT!!! highly poisonous to animals. I have lost an outside feline friend to this plant. It was horrible.
The Beans or seeds are highly poisonous to humans!

So always watch at what all of your loved ones, humans or furry, are doing!

Love,
Erica

Brugmansias are too. Although I have read that a large majority of plants are poisonous if injested. I do always wash my hands after handling my brugs.

I am doing my herbal classes now. Wrennie is right. So Many Good things are also bed for you. We learned in Scouts a few years ago... If you are lost and starving, you can eat the fruit off sumac trees. You need to boil it down, but Sumac and Cattails are a delicious treat. Now how many times have we been told not to play in the poison sumac???

Wild mushrooms, like Morels, are very yummy. But I would not eat just any shroom without knowing if it is poisonous. Our dog ate some poisonous type that was growing in our yard and she had kidney failure. I seen her eating it, tried to stop her in the act, but I was too late. $1000 later she was just fine.

Yesterday afternoon Danielle called me and said that Thor had eaten some of my Lantana out back. She googled it and it said it was very poisionous to dogs so she took him back outside and poured Hydrogen Peroxide down his throat so that he threw it all up. Then she watched him for hours for any signs of lethergy or other ill effects. He is fine, thank goodness. She also dug out my lantana that she saw in my flowerbed and put the one I still had in a pot on the front porch. I told her that most all plants can be bad for animals to eat but I've never seen him eat them before. I told her that all my brugs are VERY poisionous but he doesn't bother him. Hydrogen peroxide to the rescue once again!

Vine, I had no idea about the hydrogen peroxide. Good information to know. Although my dog showed no signs or symptoms of being poisoned until her eyes, and skin turned yellow; jaundice. If there is a next time she eats something bad she'll get the peroxide ASAP! I am glad Thor is OK! I did hear and can anyone confirm, that if they get into actual poison they should not throw up as it will burn their throat, etc. when it comes back up?

Shelly, she had me give him hydrogen peroxide once before when he grabbed a bottle of my medicine off the end table in the living room. It makes them throw everything up, if you catch them immediately. It has saved us from going to the Emergency Clinic and paying $200+ for them to do the same thing...Well, they probably use a different medicine but the end result is the same. And we are able to watch him, or any animal, at home, in the comfort of their own surroundings. Good info to know.

Yes, that bit of info. could have save us lotsa $$$ and I agree I'd rather have my pet at home with me. I did end up bringing her home and treating her myself. I told the vet there was no way we could go past $1000 and he said "can you do an IV". So, I gave her her meds. 3 pills 3 times a day and had to do an IV once a day. That was freaky but she behaved like an angel. I hung the bag on a coat hanger, put it up on the door knob, sat on the floor with her in my lap, stuck the needle behind her neck, and sat with her till she had the right amount. Never want to do that again!!! Hydrogen Peroxide sounds much better.

Yes and another thing is, you can do it immediately and not wait for however long it takes you to get them in the car and drive somewhere. In that time frame the poison would be working its way around in their system doing more damage. Thats one of the ways we look at it. Plus the fact that our pet is of course, more comfortable at home. If something is really wrong with your pet, then of course, take them to the vet. I just took my rescued shelter kitten to the vet last Tuesday and paid $125 because they sold her to me for $75 and said she just had the kitty flu and it had just started and just give her eye drops and nose drops. She was so sick over Memorial Day weekend that I fed her with a syringe, food and water. She kept food down and didn't get dehydrated so I knew she would be ok til Tuesday am. I was there an hour before they opened and we were their first patients. I know she would have died if he hadn't been able to get her on antibiotics, as well as other meds. He was very upset that the shelter sold her to me so sick. Also she has to be spayed by June 23 and he is upset about that too. She is still sick, no immune system built up. She weighs only 2.8 lbs and they are going to spay her in a couple of weeks??? Argh....but I signed a contract and they will come after me if I don't do it.

What will they do to you if you hold off getting her spayed for a couple more weeks? That date is almost 3 weeks away and she could be 100% fine by then. You'll have to go by your gut feeling as mom knows best! Surgery is much better these days. A very tiny cut if you have a good vet and they heal super quick. I hope you get to choose your own vet and are not sent to a hack doctor. My last cat to get fixed had laser surgery but it was an option. I went for the easiest on her, of course. My best to Reiki...did I spell that right? And I do believe you were meant for each other.

Thank you Shelly. They could fine and possibly put a warrant out so I'll take her. She's much better. I just wish she was a little older and stronger. I know they want it done before kittens are old enough to go into heat but she's only 3 months, if that, and has put a little weight on so a little over 2.8 lbs. I will take her back to the vet soon and if he still feels strongly that it is really bad for her at this time I will ask him to write a note as to what he is treating her for and his recommendation. Then I would take that, along with a letter of entreaty to them asking for another month or so. We'll see. Like you said, she will prob be fine in another couple of weeks. They have to be done on a Wednesday and there are only 2 more before the contract deadline of June 23. So it would have to be on June 17. It will probably be fine. I am a protective mother and want to make sure my baby gets the best care she can, ya know?