Castor Oil Plant - Toxic Enough to...

[rockinhippy]

Worry about pets ??

Thats it really, but bit of background might help :)

Bought one yesterday at a fete - nice looking plant at a bargain price, chatted to the stall holder about whether it was suitable to plant out in our sheltered
back yard patio & seemed from the other things that grow well out there it will be.

Just googled on care, repotting etc & its coming up as highly toxic plant goes onto to say its where Ricin comes from etc etc

So should I worry about our 2 cats, they spend a lot of time out there, lie amongst plants & little sod of a Tom Cat does have a bad habit of digging in the stone built large trough I was thinking of putting this plant in

Good idea - or pass it on

TIA :(

Thank you :)

I found a good gardening forum & asked there too - from the answers I got there - seems it is a real one, they do have them in the UK & councils often plant them to fill in beds etc, so not controlled & though very toxic, its not as bad as the net would have you believe as its VERY hard to get the toxin from it - seeds only & they come in a spiky husk, so no danger to animals :)

Castor oil plant (ricinus communis) is only controlled to the extent that (in my experience) you can only buy seeds by mail order, presumably to enable the police to track down people who might be growing it for sinister purposes. I grew plants from seed this year but, like all my other seedlings in this awful growing season, they died. Otherwise, I might have been taking my spares to a plant sale, too.

False castor oil plant is fatsia japonica.

The RSPB has suggestions for deterring cats from digging in flowerbeds.

I used to have one and bought it from a plant sale, I think it is an annual though. Mine certainly didn't make it through the winter. Very beautifu plant.

Agree gets planted loads by our council, every time I see it I think I should get another one. Have dogs and never worried about it.

The most alarming tale of toxic plants and pets I heard concerned aconitum (the delphinium relative, not winter aconite). My friend's rabbit nibbled the plant and was dead before she could get it to the vet.