Poisonous plants: Poppies

[Cornflower]

Hi all. During my maternity leave with dd1 I have seriously got into gardening. Have been saved in the nick of time from buying a few plants that are severely toxic (iris, lilies) and have decided to dig up delphinium since it is v. poisonous. Am leaving hydrangea and wisteria since my reserch tells me they are relatively harmless (have to eat lots to get ill). But do not know whether to dig up poppies. Grateful for any help.

[Furball]

Have a look on Crocus.co.uk they have a plant finder, just type in the name - if it is poisonous it appears with a little red scull and cross bone emblem after the plant name.

[judetheobscure]

I didn't even know hydrangea and wisteria were poisonous. We have poppies, foxgloves, hydrangea, wisteria, euphorbia, dicentra. All of which, I now discover, are posionous. In fact I planted the poppies and the foxgloves. I've always taught the children not to go on the borders and the posionous ones are at the back. (except for hydrangea ). IMO they need to learn that plants shouldn't be touched and certainly never eaten.

[Blu]

I agree with Judetheobscure, hence my irritation this w/e when I discovered my * b-i-l encouraging my ds to pick sweet pea pods, pretending they were beans and saying you could eat these!!!!! Men who are not parents really don't think, sometimes, do they? (DON'T flood the thread with smartass comments about men in general...)

But if I was starting a garden I don't think I'd knowingly plant very poisonous plants in case of toddler curiosity when I'm not looking.

[princesspeahead]

we've got all of those and more - including big yew hedges etc etc. IMO children really don't eat plants, especially if they are in your own garden and educate them about them. Even very young ones can learn about poison - my daughter has translated this to mean that if she so much as touches a yew berry she will die, although I've explained it doesn't quite work like that!
Honestly, I've never heard of a child chewing a delphinium...!!!
Chill.

[JanHR]

We have nothing poisionous according to that site.
The butterfly bushes, flowering currant, cherry tree and bamboo are all safe.

[vkr]

Help

ds has just eaten a laurel (common - prunus something) berry - according to the site the plant is poisonous - don't know if leaves or berries. at present ds does not seem to be affected at all - advice please

this on top of a quick suck on a mouse heart this morning - when do they grow out of putting everything in their mouths ?

[SoupDragon]

The berries ARE poisonous! Phone NHS direct to ask for advice. Babycentre suggest phoning 999 in any case of poisoning.

Are you sure he swallowed it? Was it only one?

[SoupDragon]

And don't try to make him sick.

I would imagine that with just one berry, affects are likely to be minimal but it's never worth taking that chance.

[vkr]

yes he swallowed it - kindly spat out the stone for me - am sure it was only one

have been reading nhs healthcare guide - no symptoms as yet - monitoring v v closely

[SoupDragon]

I can't find any more specific information about what to do or what to look for. Hope he's OK!!

I don't even want to know abut the mouse heart...

[Shal68]

Hi all, my mum and dad have a foxglove plant growing in their garden, and i wondered if anybody knows if they are harmful? Thanks

[Twiglett]

message withdrawn

[Thunderbird1]

Yes foxgloves are poisonous

[wilbur]

Cornflower - I don't think poppies should be a problem in a garden for children. It's the seeds that are the narcotic but even if your kids managed to munch an entire seedhead one summer, it would still only be like eating 3 or 4 poppyseed muffins. One thing to watch for at the moment is pyracanthus (firethorn) berries - the bright orange ones that you see everywhere atthis timeof year. They are not deadly unless you eat loads but will give quite an upset tummy if someone manages to eat more than about 10. I know this because ds ate some a couple of years ago, only about 3 of them and he was fine, but I called NHS direct and they said to watch out as the berries are so pretty that loads of kids eat them.

[Levanna]

Hope it's ok to add this as it's not really a garden, but a house plant. Diffenbachia is an extremely common house plant and highly poisenous. It's also known as Dumb Cane as it poisens by paralysing the throat - not a plant to have within easy reach of children (or animals!). When I was working (floristry), we had to label poisenous plants as such, but not everyone does this, unfortunately. I totally agree that children should learn about what's safe to do in a garden and what isn't, and when I'm there with my DD's I'd obviously not let them munch away on garden plants. Most of DH's relatives have these plants though, said relatives aren't always as aware of these dangers or maybe as vigilant as they could be.........(that should be - most of DH's relatives DID have these plants ).

[Levanna]

or poisOnous, even!

[lou33]

Foxglove are poisonous. Isn't digitalis derived from them?

[MPL]

my mum has poppy heads growing in her garden and my daughter touches them and sucks her thumb and i worry about it but dunno if im just being silly or not!

[PrettyCandles]

Poppy seeds are not poisonous, LOL! I use them in cooking.

[MPL]

ok, just i was told that they make u hollusinate. (or however u spell it)!