Stuff that's Poisonous

[karlkatzke]

Howdy, y'all. I'm a fairly new member, but I feel welcome here and have kinda dived on in. Hope no one minded, and I sure as heck hope this deep end was marked right... :D

Big question: I just discovered that the adorable white jonquil-like flowers that I was allowing to grow in my yard were the very poisonous Star of Bethlehem (http://www.flickr.com/photos/karlkatzke/tags/star%20of%20bethlehem) ... yipes! My dogs crop grass! There's a decent chance one would chew on some of this!

What else do I need to look out for and pull right away? I'm in 8b, the Post Oak Savannah / grassland terrain between coastal and hill country in Texas, and my backyard was left un-suburbed and has only recently begun to have decent grass as I've evicted the thistles and curlydock.

[bellzeybubba]

Are you more worried about your dogs, or people (small children), or other livestock?

Your area is pretty similar to mine, and around here people grow a lot of oleander, which is quite toxic. In Austin folks are fond of Texas Mountain Laurel aka Mescalbean, another really nice ornamental that's poisonous. I don't think you'd need to pull either, just be aware of the toxicity if you have them.

Be sure to watch out for bull nettle - nasty, nasty stuff, which is too bad, since the flowers are quite attractive and smell great. Don't pull it up with your bare hands! That's something to get rid of if it shows up.

[karlkatzke]

Thanks! Mostly wildflowers are what troubles me. I'm most worried about the dogs. Two mutts of cur/ridegeback/hog hound descent -- they'll eat anything that smells interesting. Since I started using fish emulsion fertilizer, everything smells interesting.

All the stuff that's really bad for them but that I enjoy (like the cyclamens and sweetpeas) I try to keep in front or locked up in the raised bed. 'Cept those invasive wildflowers that grow in the yard and haven't been choked out or otherwise "managed" by the St. Aug.

[Cliff Timmons]

How about a scorned woman's words?

<grin>

[lorna-organic]

Desert Bird of Paradise is extremely poisonous, all parts of the plant. It might grow wild in your area. Jimson weed, morning glory and wisteria are on the poisonous plants list. Here is a poisonous plants list:

http://www.angel-litemaltese.com/Poison.htm

I've heard of dogs dying from stealing and eating large amounts of raisins (like a one pound box of raisins). Toxicity largely depends upon the dog's weight and the quantity consumed. Apple seeds can be poisonous if dogs crack the seeds open whilst consuming apples, the seeds contain strychnine.

[TennOC]

Better to control the dog, I think. You can't escape from poisonous plants.

[bellzeybubba]

I shoud clarify, the nettles aren't actually poisonous - they just hurt, A LOT, and you wouldn't want your poor dogs running into them.

Friend of mine almost lost her dog when it got into some raisins. Apparently too many grapes can hurt them too.

In my yard I worry more about my dog digging into the compost pile and putting her nose in a nest of fire ants than anything else. She doesn't seem to have learned from the last time she got stung all over her face, dumb dog!

[karlkatzke]

Oh, but Bellzey, it smells SO GOOD!

Controlling the dog is an issue, but the backyard is small and sometimes it's better to leave them out there while I do some housecleaning...

How about a scorned woman's words?

Cliff, I've had plenty of those thrown at me and they aren't among the things that I'd like to grow and nurse...!

[bluelacedredhead]

Here are two respected agricultural websites on the subject of plants which may or may not, be poisonous to animals. Please pay particular attention to the paragraphs dealing with the degree of poisoning.

http://www.omaf.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/dairy/facts/87-016.htm

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/

[bughunter99]

Stay away from cocoa bean mulch, foxglove and datura. My dog was attracted to all three, especially the datura (angel's trumpet).

[louanne]

Thats too bad...my dog is very particular to what she chews on.... butthen she is a very large dog..
I wouldnt purposely introduce star of bethlehem here...but I lived in a place once where the yard bloomed with it....and it was lovely....

[karlkatzke]

Yeah, Louanne, I did like looking at the pretty star of Bethlehem blooms, so I'd let it be ... until I identified it! I just spent the past two hours since I got home pulling all of them up. I had over 100 of the buggers, and there's more I know that are in the front yard that I mowed over.

[karlkatzke]

Thanks, bluelaced! I hadn't seen those links before. Need to go blog them before I lose them...

[springfever]

Good grief, I have 3 little dogs and I had no idea that morning glory was poisonous and have been trying to get it to grow in my front yard on the flag pole and the last few years have had a huge bunch and it is even growing out and around the porch!! I'll have to figure out if I can move it. I wouldn't want one of my babies eating it.

[karlkatzke]

springfever: Yeah, there's LOTS of stuff now that I've been looking it up. Including some of the grasses that grow wild around here! I have sweetpeas planted in my garden to hopefully climb up the sides... I'm going to have to be very careful to make sure that it doesn't grow outside the edges.

On the other hand, as much as my dogs crop grass to supplement the small amount of kibble their mean ol' dad feeds them*, I suppose that if they were going to get poisoned and die they would've done it already.

* Note: THEIR opinion. They'd prefer to be the size of the goodyear blimp.

[lorna-organic]

The seeds of the morning glory are the most poisonous part of the plant. They can cause hallucinations. (Some people use them to get high!) I think the seeds cause vomiting as well. There are various levels of toxicity. Best to read up on the subject.

Pothos are somewhat poisonous. I had one cat who kept munching on a pothos. I figured he wasn't going after the plant with such vigor that he would poison himself. I eventually managed to train him to leave that plant alone. He switched to munching on the bromeliad instead. I never got any flowers on that bromeliad because he always ate them.

Diffenbachia is extremely poisonous, very dangerous. Once I pulled dead leaves off a diffenbachia, then rubbed my face because a small scratch near my mouth was itching. There was enough plant material on my hand to enter that small scratch. An area of my face went numb for almost thirty minutes. Diffenbachia is also known as dumb cane, because if a leaf is chewed the mouth swells so badly a person cannot speak and can suffocate from swollen tongue.