How about a forum on Poison Gardens

DG may already have this but I would really enjoy a forum on Poison Gardens (Poisonious Plants). I'm reading Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart and just read an article here on DG, I think it would be an interesting and informative forum, covering plants all over the world.
Just a thought,
Lisa

Good idea Lisa. I don't know if there's one here either but there should be.

I think its cool because there is a lot of history in that area too and I just read an article on DG about poison plants. The author lived on an Island by Madagascar and I had never heard of the plants before but now I'm hooked. I also think it would be helpful because some common houseplants are poisoness. It could contain some very useful info.
The oldest university botanical garden is near Venice in Padova Italy. If I had known that I would have gone there.
Lisa

I think it's a good idea too! I spend a lot of time researching plants before I add them to my garden. I know of the obvious ones (Castor Bean, Datura, Brugs, Cypress Vine) but was surprised to hear that things like medicinal Aloe and Baby's Breath and Chrysantemums (sp?) are toxic to pets;o)

A lot of "medicinal" herbs are toxic if talken in the wrong amount. Just like any medicine I guess.

Baby's Breath is poisonous to animals?!?!!? I didn't know...ok we definitely need a poisonous plant forum...one for pets, one for humans.

Yep - to dogs and cats - who would have thought? The ASPCA has a pretty extensive list of toxic and non-toxic plants... Broken down by toxic to dogs, cats, horses or all...

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/babys-breath.html

A forum would be nice for us to share experiences and observations.

Thank you Kelly, yes a forum would be very helpful.

I also agree with having a poison plants forum. I have three dogs and one is rather stupid so I need to research most plants extensively to determine if they're harmful and if so, how much would they need to ingest before there is internal damage? Thankfully the dumbest one avoids the chinaberry.

I have heard and read that most plants that are extremely toxic (like Datura) smell bad and taste worse and that most animals seem to "know" not to mess with those ones. Except the not so smart animals probably;o) Chinaberry is pretty toxic, mostly the berries but all parts of the plant can cause issues if ingested.

Some plants a lot would need to be ingested, some not so much. I have read that 2 Datura seeds are enough to kill a person!

locakelly - I know! LazLo tells me that every time I visit him. So those and brugs are not allowed near my house. Trust me, the dummy dog would sample them. She tries to eat everything (although it's funny when she chases the big fat toad in the yard...we let her catch him just so maybe she'll learn after the fourth of fifth try that he tastes bad. lol!)

I think this is a good idea too. No matter how smart a dog is, when they are teething puppies, they tend to seek out plants to chew on, and that can be deadly. We almost lost our little puppy Bichon last month from eating something out in our yard in New Hampshire. I researched what plants are toxic to dogs to find those I was unaware of and was shocked at how many deadly plants there are! The ASPCA site is good, and another really helpful one is http://envhort.ucdavis.edu/ce/king. It has some good rating info as to type of toxicity.
Louise

It's not only plants - a friend's dog almost died from eating cocoa-bean shell mulch. The Poison Garden forum should include toxic mulches and garden chemicals too.

I very much agree!! There are so many things that just aren't as obvious as people might think if they don't know what has gone into a product.

I was thinking of "Poison Garden" plants because there's a lot of history and lore They don't grow with a label on them like gardening products (chemicals). I assume they are all poisonous.


Cocoa-bean shell mulch, is a great example, it was a plant at some point.

On that note Happy Halloween everybody!

and the same to you!

If the goal is to alert people to toxic plants, we have the ability within PlantFiles to do that for each plant listed. And that has the added benefit of being better organized (and therefore more search-able and browse-able) than forum threads would be.

The reason I thought a forum would be nice is because Poison Gardens are actual grown just for the reason of having a Poison Garden. Also, people don't think to look. I don't look up every plant I buy, but have since learned they were poisonous.

My idea really wasnt to alert people, but to learn about these plants especially those in other parts of the world and the way they have affected history.

Is it possible that such a forum would be mis-used or misunderstood? (I'm concerned about giving anyone the impression we are advocating creating a poisonous garden, or giving advice to that effect - there could be some liability attached to that.)

I did think about that and I do understand. The info is already on the internet, but I do get your reasoning.

You have a good point there Terry. I did think about that very thing as well.

How about a Garden Hazards forum? That could cover everything from poisonous plants, toxic chemicals, accidents with garden tools, and designing for safety.

Garden Hazards sounds great to me.

Much more politically correct. As I go through seeds catalogs I'm amazed at how many seeds/plants are listed with absolutely no warning about how poisinous the plant is, I just happen to know. ie Rocket Larkspur

That sounds like an idea! One of the things that bothers me in the Plant Files Advanced Search is that there is no choice to select "non-poisonous" plants. It allows you to search for poisonous plants, but not for plants that are safe.

Just checked out the book you mentioned. I have decided it would make a great present for several members of my family but I know if I buy it I will want to keep it !! Guess I will have to buy two. It sounds really interesting. Thanks for the post about it.

mable-its an easy read. You could always read the one you are going to give away first.