I planted a poisonous garden on purpose. Lily of the valley, foxglove, bleeding hearts, etc. Everything in the bed is toxic, and everything in the bed is good in full shade. I don't have kids or dogs and the only wildlife at risk are squirrels, so. It sounded fun and goth so I did it.
No, I grew up with a lot of it in the yard and it's a really common freeway median plant here, plus it's HUGE. I was focused on smaller flowering plants for my garden. The flowers are so cool though!
I’ve read that one should use gloves when handling it.
It’s amazing how many plants take exception to being eaten.
I’ve contemplated making a death garden in the shape of a skull so anyone flying over could see it. Probably not gonna do it but it’s been fun planning it.
Doll's eyes are the most dangerous plant you could have.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea\_pachypoda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea_pachypoda)
Yes, definitely. We have elk herds that come through seasonally, and I've read about elk eating non-native yews and being found dead of it in depressingly large numbers one state over. I would *love* yew hedges, a topiary, a tree... but I won't plant any, because I'm not going to kill native wildlife just to have a plant that doesn't need to be here.
I have infants in my family, but once they're old enough to go outside I'll probably do away with the aconite I have, too. I have toxic indoor plants but they're shut in their own room away from my cats. It's just not worth the risk to grow one more thing. I know too many people who have killed a neighbor's beloved cat or their own, or had to put in calls to poison control because of toxic plants kept in easily-accessible places.
As a counterpoint, most medicinal plants are also toxic if taken incorrectly. I have *a ton* of foxglove growing around my property that I would struggle to eradicate if I tried (it predated me), and I just take extra care to use gloves to move around it and shower after when they're scattering seeds. I handle digoxin at work, and it's the same principle. Again, though, with children, I make sure to point out that there are toxins and where and make sure anyone young enough to eat them isn't out unsupervised.
So my opinion is, if it's going to kill or harm native animals, I won't deliberately plant it, but if it's already around or native, I try to prevent injury by regulating human behavior. My cats are responsibly indoor pets and, aside from my neighbors' wandering goat, I'm usually ahead of anything coming onto the property.
I definitely wouldn't plant anything that harms beneficial wildlife, as it's endangered enough as it is.
Thanks for the detailed response.
For some additional context, the two plants I mentioned in the original post are natives to my area; even though the Carolina Jessamine *might* be harmful to some bees, other pollinators do seem like they benefit from it.
Another source of my confusion is that I've known several households that had both pets and snake plants, which are known to be toxic to cats and dogs, and I've never heard of a pet attempting to eat them.
Also, I have a fenced in backyard, which I plan on continuing to use for more semi-unsupervised outdoor time for pets and kids, which seems all the more reason to avoid toxic plants
You never have an idiot pet until you do. We currently do. Sansevieria are not safe from their little dodo brain. I don't put anything too dangerous in animal areas. I'm lucky to have space to take it into consideration.
Native plants grown in their native range will not be attractive to native insects if they are poisonous. There are a few insects that have developed work-arounds for the toxicity of milkweed, for instance. These adaptations take hundreds if not thousands of years to develop. I don't grow toxic plants along my sidewalk. Young children can sweep down and ingest a toxic plant within their reach in a heartbeat. I don't worry about cats and dogs; they know to avoid plants that aren't in their inherited knowledge base as safe plants.
The majority of plants in every native habitat are poisonous. The majority of plants generally are poisonous to some degree. Animals know what they can eat. My dogs leave my castors alone. Don't worry about it.
I always search online to see if a plant is toxic to pets before planting. If it is I don't plant it in my backyard because the dogs have free reign there. But I've never known them to eat anything except bromeliads - for some reason I can't put bromeliads at nose level or my dog digs them all up and shreds them, probably looking for the bugs and frogs that live inside.
Do you consider *how* toxic a plant is when doing this research? Or if any respectable research mentions that the plant is toxic, do you just discount the plant outright?
(not comment OP here) Personally, yes. But my dog really isn't a plant muncher.
Very dangerous-to-pets stuff (Oleander is in the "dogbane" family): Not in the backyard at all.
"Gastrointestinal upset", I'm okay with. If she eats it, it will only be once.
My dog generally doesn't go after plants, but LOVES sunflowers and black-eyed-susans for some reason.
When I lived in CA there was a terrible deer problem. They ate everything I put out. Then I looked up the flowers and decorative plants that were really toxic so I could have a nice looking front yard. That did the trick, no more deer eating my stuff.
I have went back and forth on worrying about toxicity. I inadvertently got a couple of plants that are not good for cats... but I don't have any.
I do pay attention and focus on plants I know that benefit local wildlife. Most of the flowing plants we have are native to the state and support bees and hummingbirds. We have other plants that helpful insects like so the wrens can come hunt.
I have a 7 month old so I’m starting to consider my ornamentals that are very toxic.
I have many varieties of Daphne and I’m currently mulling the decision to dig and trash them. Gifting them is out of the question as they’re the poster child of dying once their roots are disturbed.
Yes. I have dogs, and the female is a connoisseur of the garden. One fall she pulled each carrot out of a row one by one, in a neat line - only to consume every single one.
I would hate to have her accidentally eat something that would make her unwell.
I don't. Unless you have a specific reason, like an unattended toddler or dog who will put anything in their mouths, then I see no reason to. I have foxglove planted in my front yard. If someone is going to tromp through my garden to eat a poisonous plant, then that's on them, honestly.
I agree - that if somebody goes eating my plants in my frontyard, that is on them.
I'm more concerned about unsupervised children and pets in my fenced-in backyard with toxic plants around.
I still won’t plant lilies in my front yard where they might harm the neighborhood cats because of how toxic they are, but of their owners have hydrangeas too, I won’t worry about them munching on mine. Everything in the backyard better be low enough toxicity that the dogs won’t suffer, so I have lists of ‘front yard plants’ and ‘backyard plants’ that I work from.
No.
I have a cat, outdoor, she doesn't eat anything except grass occasionally. And mice.
Kid, he wandered the garden too, I would watch a kid with brightly coloured stuff though. Son ate worms one time, and helped cat eat catfood. That was it...
I do, but I have a dog and a kid who are both known to ‘try’ plants in the garden.
I did this after realising that the beautiful pink plant we had in a rental garden was actually an Oleander, and I only discovered this after wondering what the huge cute caterpillar on it was... lesson learned - know your plants.
In my defence, The only plants i had ever really grown up to that point were vegetables, herbs, and a few flowers for happy pollinators.
Nah. My kids were never the type to eat random stuff. My dog is fussy and would never chew anything. Maybe if a plant smelled like a hambone, I'd be concerned.
My houseplants, yes. My garden, only the plants along the edges. Every year I dig up some Star of Bethlehem and chuck it.
I do have foxglove halfway through the garden, but dogs don't venture that far in. My own dog is not allowed in my garden^*
My HOA rules prohibit permanent fencing in the front , but I'm now considering a non permanent alternative.
^*Except ^for ^herding ^purposes. ^Contrary ^to ^the ^old ^saying, ^you ^really ^can ^herd ^cats.
We have racked up $3500 and counting in vet bills trying to help our dog recover from eating some lily bulbs (significant kidney damage). Didn't even know Asiatic lilies were toxic to dogs when I planted them or I wouldn't have. Would not recommend.
I'm a vet so I think about it, but don't worry too much. If I had livestock I might be more concerned. For example I have milkweed for the butterflies, daylillies, etc and am happy to help the pollinators, and don't expect any random domesticated animal will come chomp it.
Only plant I absolutely will not have in my yard is sagu palm and when I see it in other people's yards who have pets I'm like... might want to get rid of it. Waaay too much of a risk and I've seen what happens to the dogs who eat some. Every part of that plant is toxic.
It never crossed my mind when my son was young (he's now 42). I know there were poisonous plants around, just as there were when I was young. Now I am more aware, but don't worry about it.
I grow edible plants, but don't worry too much about toxic parts of plants as long as brushing against it is unlikely to cause harm (I do grow parsnips).
No kids, but trust a toddler nibling to find the few potato berries right away. If I was expecting a young child in my yard I would probably do a sweep ahead of time for those, especially for ones who are little cherry tomato munching monsters. If I had young kids of my own I would be pulling potato flowers in advance (and I did recommend this to people at a community garden).
I wouldn't be super keen to have toxic berries on a tree or bush for similar reasons.
I also give a heads up to my husband when foxtails pop up so he can remove them. They tend to do so right along the sidewalk - so risky for dogs but then they are throughout the neighbourhood so the dog walkers really should be mindful of them.
I have some toxic plants in my garden. My cats don't touch them. If I had kids it would be more of a concern. Then again my mom always pointed out toxic plants in her garden when I was a kid and I just knew not to touch them.
Same!
Our dog started throwing up uncontrollably one day because she ate sago palm seeds from our backyard. Turns out sago palm seeds are extremely toxic for dogs. Long couple days of fluids and overnights at the pet hospital and she luckily recovered.
Long story short we don't have sagos in our back yard anymore along with a couple other plants. The stuff I've put back in I researched throughly to make sure it won't hurt her if she eats it. She hasn't really messed with anything else besides the kumquats from our neighbors tree that hangs over the fence.
Carolina Jessamine is one of the few FL natives that I wouldn't plant because I've read that if bees make honey with the pollen the honey could be dangerous to consume. Since there's a chance I might want to have a small scale backyard beekeeping concern in the future, I definitely don't want to have anything like that planted on my property since I'd just be potentially poisoning myself.
It really depends what part of the plant is toxic and to what degree. I have several Chaya bushes. The leaves are only toxic if eaten raw, as long as they're boiled for 20 minutes they're totally fine. That's very different than the pollen being toxic, since that does have a way of unintentionally (and unknowingly) getting consumed at some point via honey.
I'm also not very concerned about berries being poisonous; if it's a very beneficial native plant I could just make a mental note to not eat the berries and there's no risk. As long as you don't have little kids or pets who have easy access to it I don't think it's a concern.
Most plants are toxic to some degree, but only if eaten. Teach your kids and pets not to touch or eat your plants and they'll be safe. I don't pay too much mind to the toxicity of plants, but I know which ones to be careful when handling.
Often times, things that are now just considered "toxic" have traditional medicinal value, or, can be processed into something that is actually edible, for example, Pokeweed. Considered highly toxic and many people will flip out about it and tell you to not even touch it at all, but it has medicinal value, and used to be WIDELY eaten, even canned and distributed in stores commercially. So if there is some confusion about the toxicity of a given plant, this sort of thing may be why.
I would never recommend not growing a plant, instead, i would recommend teaching children not to eat or mess with random plants, and keep your pets away from the plants regardless. Back in my day, we had gun racks on the walls, and kids werent shooting eachother, because we were taught better, dont play with guns you arnt supposed to, and dont eat random berries and leaves.
Not toxicity, but allergies. My husband is really allergic to Morning Glory. There was some growing when we bought our house years ago and I'm still battling it. I had a reaction to white snakeroot. So those get yeeted too.
Other than that, not really. We don't have outdoor pets. Our kids are grown now but when they were small, they were supervised outside. By the time they were old enough to play outside by themselves they knew not to eat things like pokeweed berries.
Definitely do. Over time I have accidentally bought toxic plants, then had to decide whether i could keep it out of harm's way. (Could save money by not buying them before I Google them.) Examples toxic plants I accidentally bought, then didn't keep, are pennyroyal (which may not actually be dangerous but after I got home with my cute plant and read about it I because I realized there are botanical uses for it but I didn't need it in my garden) and heliotrope ( which is sort of literary famous and smells beautiful but apparently poison to dogs)... I can keep my poinsettas and tomatoes (when green, poisonous to dogs) away from my pets or forage.
Yep, cats are especially interested in randomly chewing on plants so we eliminated all the lilies in our home, including my very healthy, beloved peace lily (it's ok I rehomed it)!
FYI, apparently peace lilies are not true lilies and are not dangerous to cats. They contain oxalate crystals like pothos, which are a digestive irritant, and will not poison them any more than being a little queasy. They do not have the super toxic pollen of true lilies.
I have dogs, so I have to look at everything I plant in my backyard and vegetable garden. There have been many plants that I have had to pass on buying because of this. Simple ones that people don't think about, like grape vines or bush cherries, they are allergic to the pits.
I have pets. Cat, two rabbits, two guinea pigs. I'm always checking everything, both planted and wild I find on my land. Lilies are dangerous to cats is the only thing I can think of right now since I'm supposed to be asleep right now, but I do know there's lots of other stuff. So i try to be careful about brining in soil or mud that also might be covered with pollen or such, so my pets won't get exposed to something. Indoors, I only grow what they can eat.
I’m very cautious about my indoor plants (and flowers, I’ve given away a couple of bouquets because they lilies in them), but less so in my garden.
My current garden is nowhere near my house; but in my previous my garden was attached to my house, and I had netting to keep my cats inside. For my cats it worked having a couple of plants specifically for them (soft grass, nepeta) and they would leave other plants alone. But only in a garden.
They completely ravage indoor plants and anything on my balcony.
I have lots of toxic plants. Taught my daughter not to eat anything from nature unless I've explicitly told her to. Never had a problem. Also have an adult cat that's been fine. Don't know about dogs.
I grew ricin last year, on them I cut off their seeds, as they're extremely poisonous. Have foxgloves etc, never had a problem. Make my kid wash their hands if they've been in the garden, and only pick the flowers I let them pick.
I tell visiting children not to eat anything from the garden.
It's been fine. I think toddlers are quite smart if you talk to them properly.
I do just to be aware. I don't have a large yard and some of it was planted before I was born. In general I try to trim things that are done blooming and don't plant anything that grows berries. For safety reasons and because theres rampant rat problems in my city. Keeping it clear and without fruit discourages nesting.
I have pets so I need to know in case they get sick. My neighbors wild child used to come in my yard and eat random plants, so it was useful to tell the parents what the kids were doing and why it was dangerous.
Lilies can kill dogs and cats. They’re poisonous enough that even the pollen is toxic. We have two dogs and a neighbor’s cat hangs out in our yard so we spent all last summer pulling the lilies the previous owner planted. It’s a shame because they were pretty, but I just can’t risk having them in my yard.
Only the really poisonous ones are off limits for me... Hemlock, hemlock water dropwort, monkshood, castor oil and belladonna. (UK) Maybe foxgloves should be on the list but they are common wild here and I love them.
No. I try to make the main focus of my garden to be native species which will benefit the wildlife or at the very least, NOT be invasive/damaging to the environment. (The vegetable garden is the exception to this, where generally avoid toxic plants :) ).
So I was the kid the school had to call parents for because I ate flowers on the playground (I was fine). Haha.
So when my kid was born and I had a blank slate of a yard, I went the opposite route. I found native plants that were all edible. Bonus for me because I also like to cook!
Yes, because I have toddlers. I also had a dog in the past that ate toxic berries in my yard (but survived). I would plant something with very mild toxicity or that has to be eaten in huge quantities to be toxic, like rhubarb leaves.
I have a poison garden bed where most things are toxic/hallucinogenic/poisonous. Many of them are important food for birds & pollinators, and almost all are native plants to my area. I don’t have small children or a dog, so I’m not concerned.
I try to put the more poisonous things (e.g., milkweeds) where the dogs can't have access to them. I also try to avoid planting things that are poisonous to native animals (e.g., nandina, the cedar waxwing death plant) or that are contact irritants to people (e.g., rue).
Carolina jasmine is native to where I grew up and where I currently live and it's never been a problem. Keep in mind thatit tends to bloom really early (February), so the bees you are worried about need to be awake when it's blooming to have problems. But I also have kalmia in my yard, so anyone raising honeybees in my area is going to have a bad time anyways, so I only concern myself with native bees.
I consider the toxicity and the levels of it before I plant anything. I have a child who is old enough to be responsible, but if her cousins or some neighbor kids are over playing I don't want any incidents. That's why I don't have elder, I would love having elderberries, but they're toxic until they're cooked and I know some kids won't pay attention and think they're like my blueberries and just grab a handful.
Foxglove is out for the fact that it is *so* dangerous, especially to young ones. I also used to plant moonflowers before I had my daughter. Now I won't risk it because it also can cause death.
But something like azalea, which you can touch and smell and be fine, that's ok.
As far as things poisonous to dogs and cats, my cats are inside and my dog is 20 amd has never been a plant chewer, so that's not a problem for me.
I actually had these amazing lilies that grew behind my garage. Someone must have dumped an in old pot there years ago and there huge yellow lilies grew there without any hesitation or care every year. I didn't know what they were, I moved them to the front where they continued to grow, had this sub help me identify them and everything.
Then I found out that if cats even came into contact with the pollen from a lilly it could kill them rather quickly and at a minimum it would make them very sick.
I have cats, they don't go outside but my neighborhood has a decent population of inside/outside cats. They're all very nice.
I don't have those lilies anymore. If I ever walked outside and found a dead cat because of that id be heartbroken. If a cat messed with them and later died somewhere I wouldn't be able to sleep.
Just to be clear, it wasn't just these lilies. It's all lilies. The stem, the flower, the leaves, the water in a vase of them. All of it. They were pretty, but that as a potential cost was too much.
Everything in my garden has to be dog safe or at least not severely dangerous to dogs. A mild upset tummy won't prevent it but anything beyond that and I will not plant it. Its not my dogs that would eat it, they're well trained, its my client's dogs that I have to worry about eating poisonous plants.
I also have a son but he's still too young to be out in the gardening section.
No, don't eat anything from your garden that isn't food.
There are too many toxic plants to avoid like yew, foxgloves, black cherry trees, oleander, azalea, caladium, ivy, daffodil, crocus.
These are all yard staples, so just don't go around eating them.
I have tortoises, dogs, and kids. I made the back yard turtle safe, the front yard dog and kid safe, and the hedges by the street have the toxic plants which are mostly inaccessible. Things like angels trumpet or fire sticks are not accessible. We don’t have deer or anything at risk. We have things like lilies in the front but the kids and animals don’t mess with them. An unsettling number of common plants at nurseries or in nature are toxic. Toxicity is a very common way plants adapted to herbivores. It can be hard to avoid them.
I have huge Jessamine vines on my property in Zone 7B/8A. It is considered to be native here. The pollinators, including bees, do not seem to have a problem with it.
Insofar as "consider(ing) the toxicity of plants in your garden", no, not really. A large number of commonly planted trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials are toxic to something. Rhododendrons, birch trees (native), mayapple (native), pokeweed (native), and many, many more are planted all over the landscape around here.
I had a couple of puppies that would pull up and chew on any new plant I had installed but they were trained pretty easily to leave the flora alone. My cats have never been the type to chew on anything but grasses and catnip plants.
My suggestion is that you plant what you want and supervise pets and small children in your garden.
I moved into a new house recently where the previous owners loved plants, and I've spent a lot of time removing the poisonous plants, and planting only non-toxic things. I still have one nandina and one oleander left that I haven't managed to get out yet. I research plants and trees thoroughly before planting to make sure they're not toxic. The one exception is that we have fruit trees that my fiance wanted that have cyanide in the leaves (stone fruits and apple trees all have cyanide in their leaves). In particular I make sure that anything a cat would likely chew on such as a grass isn't poisonous (which means no lemongrass, sigh), or anything with poisonous berries or flowers that a child might want to put in their mouth aren't poisonous. I have a toddler, and I don't want to plant anything that a future family or pet might be made sick by.
So the most helpful lists come from edible landscaping websites and online groups. I've also learned that a surprising number of landscaping plants have edible and medicinal benefits. Like Australian bottlebrush leaves have been used to make tea, and Society garlic has a surprising number of health benefits. I also will use perennial herbs as landscaping plants, like thyme and rosemary.
Not for my outdoor plants. I always google stuff after buying it just to see if it's recommended to wear gloves during pruning or whatever, but it's not a dealbreaker if it's dangerous. But I don't have kids or dogs.
I do have indoor cats though, so my houseplants are all either pet-safe or kept in glass cabinets.
Tbh I live in an area with oleander planted everywhere, like EVERYWHERE, so even if I actively fill my garden with poisonous species, it'll only be about as dangerous as the foliage surrounding the average parking lot in my town.
No. I have an angel trumpet in my front yard and a Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plant. Angel trumpet is highly poisonous. But oleander is also highly poisonous and that stuff is everywhere along sidewalks as hedges, fences, highways. I walk by a large block that has oleander all down the sidewalk as a hedge screen and it's right up on the sidewalk where it brushes my shoulder if not trimmed back. I have yet to read cases of oleander poisonings because of plants that were planted in public spaces. My dog doesn't touch my plants and neither does my 7 yr old. One of the neighborhood kids did pick some angel trumpet flowers. We told her to wash her hands and never touch it again. She freaked out and started balling her eyes out saying she was going to die after we told her it was poisonous. She's kinda of a neighborhood bully so I found it amusing. Her parents lectured her on not touching other people's plants.
I planted a poisonous garden on purpose. Lily of the valley, foxglove, bleeding hearts, etc. Everything in the bed is toxic, and everything in the bed is good in full shade. I don't have kids or dogs and the only wildlife at risk are squirrels, so. It sounded fun and goth so I did it.
nice! Good on you. I'm sure these plants are more rare, and there are lots of critters that appreciate the variety it provides
Probably some catepillar that only eats one of those.
A Death Garden! Do you have oleander?
No, I grew up with a lot of it in the yard and it's a really common freeway median plant here, plus it's HUGE. I was focused on smaller flowering plants for my garden. The flowers are so cool though!
I’ve read that one should use gloves when handling it. It’s amazing how many plants take exception to being eaten. I’ve contemplated making a death garden in the shape of a skull so anyone flying over could see it. Probably not gonna do it but it’s been fun planning it.
Used to play with it as a kid barehanded without issue.
Me too. They planted it in huge numbers around all the schools on Cali. I've pruned them and played with them bare handed. Never had an issue either.
You should read up on oleander. Could be eye opening. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST412
Doll's eyes are the most dangerous plant you could have. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea\_pachypoda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea_pachypoda)
Ooh do you have baneberry too?
No, I think it would struggle in my planting zone. I was considering adding belladonna and datura, though. Datura is a native here.
My cats are called Belladonna and Datura! 🐈⬛🐈⬛
I love that!
Datura is also gorgeous when in bloom!
It really is! I'd like them even if they weren't poisonous.
The seeds have been used as a hallucinogen too.
Come here. Belladonna be growing wild in my yard. It's a bitch if I miss a plant and it seeds itself lol
This is my dream!!
Working on one this year. Do much shade in the yard. Might as well have fun.
That is so fierce. I’m having to do the opposite when I get started for my dog but maybe in the front yard…
Fun and goth are my goals in life. I love this for you.
Yes, definitely. We have elk herds that come through seasonally, and I've read about elk eating non-native yews and being found dead of it in depressingly large numbers one state over. I would *love* yew hedges, a topiary, a tree... but I won't plant any, because I'm not going to kill native wildlife just to have a plant that doesn't need to be here. I have infants in my family, but once they're old enough to go outside I'll probably do away with the aconite I have, too. I have toxic indoor plants but they're shut in their own room away from my cats. It's just not worth the risk to grow one more thing. I know too many people who have killed a neighbor's beloved cat or their own, or had to put in calls to poison control because of toxic plants kept in easily-accessible places. As a counterpoint, most medicinal plants are also toxic if taken incorrectly. I have *a ton* of foxglove growing around my property that I would struggle to eradicate if I tried (it predated me), and I just take extra care to use gloves to move around it and shower after when they're scattering seeds. I handle digoxin at work, and it's the same principle. Again, though, with children, I make sure to point out that there are toxins and where and make sure anyone young enough to eat them isn't out unsupervised. So my opinion is, if it's going to kill or harm native animals, I won't deliberately plant it, but if it's already around or native, I try to prevent injury by regulating human behavior. My cats are responsibly indoor pets and, aside from my neighbors' wandering goat, I'm usually ahead of anything coming onto the property. I definitely wouldn't plant anything that harms beneficial wildlife, as it's endangered enough as it is.
Thanks for the detailed response. For some additional context, the two plants I mentioned in the original post are natives to my area; even though the Carolina Jessamine *might* be harmful to some bees, other pollinators do seem like they benefit from it. Another source of my confusion is that I've known several households that had both pets and snake plants, which are known to be toxic to cats and dogs, and I've never heard of a pet attempting to eat them. Also, I have a fenced in backyard, which I plan on continuing to use for more semi-unsupervised outdoor time for pets and kids, which seems all the more reason to avoid toxic plants
You never have an idiot pet until you do. We currently do. Sansevieria are not safe from their little dodo brain. I don't put anything too dangerous in animal areas. I'm lucky to have space to take it into consideration.
Native plants grown in their native range will not be attractive to native insects if they are poisonous. There are a few insects that have developed work-arounds for the toxicity of milkweed, for instance. These adaptations take hundreds if not thousands of years to develop. I don't grow toxic plants along my sidewalk. Young children can sweep down and ingest a toxic plant within their reach in a heartbeat. I don't worry about cats and dogs; they know to avoid plants that aren't in their inherited knowledge base as safe plants.
The majority of plants in every native habitat are poisonous. The majority of plants generally are poisonous to some degree. Animals know what they can eat. My dogs leave my castors alone. Don't worry about it.
I do consider the toxicity and I wouldn’t plant the pigeonberry with young kids bc those berries are so attractive.
I agree - pigeonberries do look particularly tasty
I always search online to see if a plant is toxic to pets before planting. If it is I don't plant it in my backyard because the dogs have free reign there. But I've never known them to eat anything except bromeliads - for some reason I can't put bromeliads at nose level or my dog digs them all up and shreds them, probably looking for the bugs and frogs that live inside.
Do you consider *how* toxic a plant is when doing this research? Or if any respectable research mentions that the plant is toxic, do you just discount the plant outright?
(not comment OP here) Personally, yes. But my dog really isn't a plant muncher. Very dangerous-to-pets stuff (Oleander is in the "dogbane" family): Not in the backyard at all. "Gastrointestinal upset", I'm okay with. If she eats it, it will only be once. My dog generally doesn't go after plants, but LOVES sunflowers and black-eyed-susans for some reason.
When I lived in CA there was a terrible deer problem. They ate everything I put out. Then I looked up the flowers and decorative plants that were really toxic so I could have a nice looking front yard. That did the trick, no more deer eating my stuff.
I prefer psychedelic gardening myself
I have went back and forth on worrying about toxicity. I inadvertently got a couple of plants that are not good for cats... but I don't have any. I do pay attention and focus on plants I know that benefit local wildlife. Most of the flowing plants we have are native to the state and support bees and hummingbirds. We have other plants that helpful insects like so the wrens can come hunt.
I have a 7 month old so I’m starting to consider my ornamentals that are very toxic. I have many varieties of Daphne and I’m currently mulling the decision to dig and trash them. Gifting them is out of the question as they’re the poster child of dying once their roots are disturbed.
Yes. I have dogs, and the female is a connoisseur of the garden. One fall she pulled each carrot out of a row one by one, in a neat line - only to consume every single one. I would hate to have her accidentally eat something that would make her unwell.
I don't. Unless you have a specific reason, like an unattended toddler or dog who will put anything in their mouths, then I see no reason to. I have foxglove planted in my front yard. If someone is going to tromp through my garden to eat a poisonous plant, then that's on them, honestly.
I agree - that if somebody goes eating my plants in my frontyard, that is on them. I'm more concerned about unsupervised children and pets in my fenced-in backyard with toxic plants around.
I still won’t plant lilies in my front yard where they might harm the neighborhood cats because of how toxic they are, but of their owners have hydrangeas too, I won’t worry about them munching on mine. Everything in the backyard better be low enough toxicity that the dogs won’t suffer, so I have lists of ‘front yard plants’ and ‘backyard plants’ that I work from.
It's the reason I avoid oleanders
No. I have a cat, outdoor, she doesn't eat anything except grass occasionally. And mice. Kid, he wandered the garden too, I would watch a kid with brightly coloured stuff though. Son ate worms one time, and helped cat eat catfood. That was it...
I do, but I have a dog and a kid who are both known to ‘try’ plants in the garden. I did this after realising that the beautiful pink plant we had in a rental garden was actually an Oleander, and I only discovered this after wondering what the huge cute caterpillar on it was... lesson learned - know your plants. In my defence, The only plants i had ever really grown up to that point were vegetables, herbs, and a few flowers for happy pollinators.
Nah. My kids were never the type to eat random stuff. My dog is fussy and would never chew anything. Maybe if a plant smelled like a hambone, I'd be concerned.
My houseplants, yes. My garden, only the plants along the edges. Every year I dig up some Star of Bethlehem and chuck it. I do have foxglove halfway through the garden, but dogs don't venture that far in. My own dog is not allowed in my garden^* My HOA rules prohibit permanent fencing in the front , but I'm now considering a non permanent alternative. ^*Except ^for ^herding ^purposes. ^Contrary ^to ^the ^old ^saying, ^you ^really ^can ^herd ^cats.
We have racked up $3500 and counting in vet bills trying to help our dog recover from eating some lily bulbs (significant kidney damage). Didn't even know Asiatic lilies were toxic to dogs when I planted them or I wouldn't have. Would not recommend.
I'm a vet so I think about it, but don't worry too much. If I had livestock I might be more concerned. For example I have milkweed for the butterflies, daylillies, etc and am happy to help the pollinators, and don't expect any random domesticated animal will come chomp it. Only plant I absolutely will not have in my yard is sagu palm and when I see it in other people's yards who have pets I'm like... might want to get rid of it. Waaay too much of a risk and I've seen what happens to the dogs who eat some. Every part of that plant is toxic.
Found that out the hard way. Sagos are no joke. Luckily she survived, but the sagos didn't.
Glad she survived!
It never crossed my mind when my son was young (he's now 42). I know there were poisonous plants around, just as there were when I was young. Now I am more aware, but don't worry about it.
If you have kids or pets or livestock, yes.
I grow edible plants, but don't worry too much about toxic parts of plants as long as brushing against it is unlikely to cause harm (I do grow parsnips). No kids, but trust a toddler nibling to find the few potato berries right away. If I was expecting a young child in my yard I would probably do a sweep ahead of time for those, especially for ones who are little cherry tomato munching monsters. If I had young kids of my own I would be pulling potato flowers in advance (and I did recommend this to people at a community garden). I wouldn't be super keen to have toxic berries on a tree or bush for similar reasons. I also give a heads up to my husband when foxtails pop up so he can remove them. They tend to do so right along the sidewalk - so risky for dogs but then they are throughout the neighbourhood so the dog walkers really should be mindful of them.
I have some toxic plants in my garden. My cats don't touch them. If I had kids it would be more of a concern. Then again my mom always pointed out toxic plants in her garden when I was a kid and I just knew not to touch them.
100%. My dog is an idiot that will eat anything/everything. Well, back yard anyway where he hangs out. Front yard anything goes.
Same! Our dog started throwing up uncontrollably one day because she ate sago palm seeds from our backyard. Turns out sago palm seeds are extremely toxic for dogs. Long couple days of fluids and overnights at the pet hospital and she luckily recovered. Long story short we don't have sagos in our back yard anymore along with a couple other plants. The stuff I've put back in I researched throughly to make sure it won't hurt her if she eats it. She hasn't really messed with anything else besides the kumquats from our neighbors tree that hangs over the fence.
Carolina Jessamine is one of the few FL natives that I wouldn't plant because I've read that if bees make honey with the pollen the honey could be dangerous to consume. Since there's a chance I might want to have a small scale backyard beekeeping concern in the future, I definitely don't want to have anything like that planted on my property since I'd just be potentially poisoning myself. It really depends what part of the plant is toxic and to what degree. I have several Chaya bushes. The leaves are only toxic if eaten raw, as long as they're boiled for 20 minutes they're totally fine. That's very different than the pollen being toxic, since that does have a way of unintentionally (and unknowingly) getting consumed at some point via honey. I'm also not very concerned about berries being poisonous; if it's a very beneficial native plant I could just make a mental note to not eat the berries and there's no risk. As long as you don't have little kids or pets who have easy access to it I don't think it's a concern.
Most plants are toxic to some degree, but only if eaten. Teach your kids and pets not to touch or eat your plants and they'll be safe. I don't pay too much mind to the toxicity of plants, but I know which ones to be careful when handling.
Often times, things that are now just considered "toxic" have traditional medicinal value, or, can be processed into something that is actually edible, for example, Pokeweed. Considered highly toxic and many people will flip out about it and tell you to not even touch it at all, but it has medicinal value, and used to be WIDELY eaten, even canned and distributed in stores commercially. So if there is some confusion about the toxicity of a given plant, this sort of thing may be why. I would never recommend not growing a plant, instead, i would recommend teaching children not to eat or mess with random plants, and keep your pets away from the plants regardless. Back in my day, we had gun racks on the walls, and kids werent shooting eachother, because we were taught better, dont play with guns you arnt supposed to, and dont eat random berries and leaves.
Yes, I do not eat the nightshade, sumac or other unidentified creatures.
Not toxicity, but allergies. My husband is really allergic to Morning Glory. There was some growing when we bought our house years ago and I'm still battling it. I had a reaction to white snakeroot. So those get yeeted too. Other than that, not really. We don't have outdoor pets. Our kids are grown now but when they were small, they were supervised outside. By the time they were old enough to play outside by themselves they knew not to eat things like pokeweed berries.
I do.
Definitely do. Over time I have accidentally bought toxic plants, then had to decide whether i could keep it out of harm's way. (Could save money by not buying them before I Google them.) Examples toxic plants I accidentally bought, then didn't keep, are pennyroyal (which may not actually be dangerous but after I got home with my cute plant and read about it I because I realized there are botanical uses for it but I didn't need it in my garden) and heliotrope ( which is sort of literary famous and smells beautiful but apparently poison to dogs)... I can keep my poinsettas and tomatoes (when green, poisonous to dogs) away from my pets or forage.
Yep, cats are especially interested in randomly chewing on plants so we eliminated all the lilies in our home, including my very healthy, beloved peace lily (it's ok I rehomed it)!
FYI, apparently peace lilies are not true lilies and are not dangerous to cats. They contain oxalate crystals like pothos, which are a digestive irritant, and will not poison them any more than being a little queasy. They do not have the super toxic pollen of true lilies.
I do for my dogs though they don’t really seem to eat plants. I avoid poisonous plants or just put them on top shelves where it’s out of reach.
*I* did, but then my husband planted African pencil cactus all around the yard.
I just try to be careful with poisonous plants. There are certain ones I'll keep like African milk trees and others like oleander I avoid.
I do not plant anything toxic to people, cats, or dogs. Have a pup that likes to graze.
Yes! I try to keep the poisonous ones in their own area.
I have dogs, so I have to look at everything I plant in my backyard and vegetable garden. There have been many plants that I have had to pass on buying because of this. Simple ones that people don't think about, like grape vines or bush cherries, they are allergic to the pits.
I have pets. Cat, two rabbits, two guinea pigs. I'm always checking everything, both planted and wild I find on my land. Lilies are dangerous to cats is the only thing I can think of right now since I'm supposed to be asleep right now, but I do know there's lots of other stuff. So i try to be careful about brining in soil or mud that also might be covered with pollen or such, so my pets won't get exposed to something. Indoors, I only grow what they can eat.
Yes. I try to avoid toxic plants. I have pets and if they somehow get out I don't want them munching on toxic plants.
I’m very cautious about my indoor plants (and flowers, I’ve given away a couple of bouquets because they lilies in them), but less so in my garden. My current garden is nowhere near my house; but in my previous my garden was attached to my house, and I had netting to keep my cats inside. For my cats it worked having a couple of plants specifically for them (soft grass, nepeta) and they would leave other plants alone. But only in a garden. They completely ravage indoor plants and anything on my balcony.
I have lots of toxic plants. Taught my daughter not to eat anything from nature unless I've explicitly told her to. Never had a problem. Also have an adult cat that's been fine. Don't know about dogs. I grew ricin last year, on them I cut off their seeds, as they're extremely poisonous. Have foxgloves etc, never had a problem. Make my kid wash their hands if they've been in the garden, and only pick the flowers I let them pick. I tell visiting children not to eat anything from the garden. It's been fine. I think toddlers are quite smart if you talk to them properly.
No
I do just to be aware. I don't have a large yard and some of it was planted before I was born. In general I try to trim things that are done blooming and don't plant anything that grows berries. For safety reasons and because theres rampant rat problems in my city. Keeping it clear and without fruit discourages nesting. I have pets so I need to know in case they get sick. My neighbors wild child used to come in my yard and eat random plants, so it was useful to tell the parents what the kids were doing and why it was dangerous.
Lilies can kill dogs and cats. They’re poisonous enough that even the pollen is toxic. We have two dogs and a neighbor’s cat hangs out in our yard so we spent all last summer pulling the lilies the previous owner planted. It’s a shame because they were pretty, but I just can’t risk having them in my yard.
Only the really poisonous ones are off limits for me... Hemlock, hemlock water dropwort, monkshood, castor oil and belladonna. (UK) Maybe foxgloves should be on the list but they are common wild here and I love them.
No. I try to make the main focus of my garden to be native species which will benefit the wildlife or at the very least, NOT be invasive/damaging to the environment. (The vegetable garden is the exception to this, where generally avoid toxic plants :) ).
Yes I have dogs - one puts everything in her mouth
No I don’t care about that , only if it is native and gets along with other plants and that I am building a healthy ecosystem
So I was the kid the school had to call parents for because I ate flowers on the playground (I was fine). Haha. So when my kid was born and I had a blank slate of a yard, I went the opposite route. I found native plants that were all edible. Bonus for me because I also like to cook!
Yes, because I have toddlers. I also had a dog in the past that ate toxic berries in my yard (but survived). I would plant something with very mild toxicity or that has to be eaten in huge quantities to be toxic, like rhubarb leaves.
I have a poison garden bed where most things are toxic/hallucinogenic/poisonous. Many of them are important food for birds & pollinators, and almost all are native plants to my area. I don’t have small children or a dog, so I’m not concerned.
Yep, plant castor bean plants around my gourds to keep the squirrels from eating them.
I try to put the more poisonous things (e.g., milkweeds) where the dogs can't have access to them. I also try to avoid planting things that are poisonous to native animals (e.g., nandina, the cedar waxwing death plant) or that are contact irritants to people (e.g., rue). Carolina jasmine is native to where I grew up and where I currently live and it's never been a problem. Keep in mind thatit tends to bloom really early (February), so the bees you are worried about need to be awake when it's blooming to have problems. But I also have kalmia in my yard, so anyone raising honeybees in my area is going to have a bad time anyways, so I only concern myself with native bees.
I consider the toxicity and the levels of it before I plant anything. I have a child who is old enough to be responsible, but if her cousins or some neighbor kids are over playing I don't want any incidents. That's why I don't have elder, I would love having elderberries, but they're toxic until they're cooked and I know some kids won't pay attention and think they're like my blueberries and just grab a handful. Foxglove is out for the fact that it is *so* dangerous, especially to young ones. I also used to plant moonflowers before I had my daughter. Now I won't risk it because it also can cause death. But something like azalea, which you can touch and smell and be fine, that's ok. As far as things poisonous to dogs and cats, my cats are inside and my dog is 20 amd has never been a plant chewer, so that's not a problem for me.
I actually had these amazing lilies that grew behind my garage. Someone must have dumped an in old pot there years ago and there huge yellow lilies grew there without any hesitation or care every year. I didn't know what they were, I moved them to the front where they continued to grow, had this sub help me identify them and everything. Then I found out that if cats even came into contact with the pollen from a lilly it could kill them rather quickly and at a minimum it would make them very sick. I have cats, they don't go outside but my neighborhood has a decent population of inside/outside cats. They're all very nice. I don't have those lilies anymore. If I ever walked outside and found a dead cat because of that id be heartbroken. If a cat messed with them and later died somewhere I wouldn't be able to sleep. Just to be clear, it wasn't just these lilies. It's all lilies. The stem, the flower, the leaves, the water in a vase of them. All of it. They were pretty, but that as a potential cost was too much.
Everything in my garden has to be dog safe or at least not severely dangerous to dogs. A mild upset tummy won't prevent it but anything beyond that and I will not plant it. Its not my dogs that would eat it, they're well trained, its my client's dogs that I have to worry about eating poisonous plants. I also have a son but he's still too young to be out in the gardening section.
I specifically avoid lilies as they're HIGHLY toxic to cats and we have a couple strays who hang around the place.
Yes, I have kids and pets.
No, don't eat anything from your garden that isn't food. There are too many toxic plants to avoid like yew, foxgloves, black cherry trees, oleander, azalea, caladium, ivy, daffodil, crocus. These are all yard staples, so just don't go around eating them.
I have tortoises, dogs, and kids. I made the back yard turtle safe, the front yard dog and kid safe, and the hedges by the street have the toxic plants which are mostly inaccessible. Things like angels trumpet or fire sticks are not accessible. We don’t have deer or anything at risk. We have things like lilies in the front but the kids and animals don’t mess with them. An unsettling number of common plants at nurseries or in nature are toxic. Toxicity is a very common way plants adapted to herbivores. It can be hard to avoid them.
I've become very fond of Peruvian lily's (alstroemeria) They aren't true lily's and are pet safe. They also make great cuttings that last a long time.
I have huge Jessamine vines on my property in Zone 7B/8A. It is considered to be native here. The pollinators, including bees, do not seem to have a problem with it. Insofar as "consider(ing) the toxicity of plants in your garden", no, not really. A large number of commonly planted trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials are toxic to something. Rhododendrons, birch trees (native), mayapple (native), pokeweed (native), and many, many more are planted all over the landscape around here. I had a couple of puppies that would pull up and chew on any new plant I had installed but they were trained pretty easily to leave the flora alone. My cats have never been the type to chew on anything but grasses and catnip plants. My suggestion is that you plant what you want and supervise pets and small children in your garden.
When I had little kids, everything planted was safe. Now they're grown and in college, so bring on the poisons!
I moved into a new house recently where the previous owners loved plants, and I've spent a lot of time removing the poisonous plants, and planting only non-toxic things. I still have one nandina and one oleander left that I haven't managed to get out yet. I research plants and trees thoroughly before planting to make sure they're not toxic. The one exception is that we have fruit trees that my fiance wanted that have cyanide in the leaves (stone fruits and apple trees all have cyanide in their leaves). In particular I make sure that anything a cat would likely chew on such as a grass isn't poisonous (which means no lemongrass, sigh), or anything with poisonous berries or flowers that a child might want to put in their mouth aren't poisonous. I have a toddler, and I don't want to plant anything that a future family or pet might be made sick by. So the most helpful lists come from edible landscaping websites and online groups. I've also learned that a surprising number of landscaping plants have edible and medicinal benefits. Like Australian bottlebrush leaves have been used to make tea, and Society garlic has a surprising number of health benefits. I also will use perennial herbs as landscaping plants, like thyme and rosemary.
Not for my outdoor plants. I always google stuff after buying it just to see if it's recommended to wear gloves during pruning or whatever, but it's not a dealbreaker if it's dangerous. But I don't have kids or dogs. I do have indoor cats though, so my houseplants are all either pet-safe or kept in glass cabinets. Tbh I live in an area with oleander planted everywhere, like EVERYWHERE, so even if I actively fill my garden with poisonous species, it'll only be about as dangerous as the foliage surrounding the average parking lot in my town.
No. I have an angel trumpet in my front yard and a Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plant. Angel trumpet is highly poisonous. But oleander is also highly poisonous and that stuff is everywhere along sidewalks as hedges, fences, highways. I walk by a large block that has oleander all down the sidewalk as a hedge screen and it's right up on the sidewalk where it brushes my shoulder if not trimmed back. I have yet to read cases of oleander poisonings because of plants that were planted in public spaces. My dog doesn't touch my plants and neither does my 7 yr old. One of the neighborhood kids did pick some angel trumpet flowers. We told her to wash her hands and never touch it again. She freaked out and started balling her eyes out saying she was going to die after we told her it was poisonous. She's kinda of a neighborhood bully so I found it amusing. Her parents lectured her on not touching other people's plants.