Wolfsbane

[Moowcowk]

Just looking for some advice on wolfsbane..

I moved house at the end of last year which has a lovely mature / established garden. I am a novice gardener but have been excited to see what all is popping up as each season goes on. I have had a beast of a plant in one of the flowerbeds out the back which I have identified as Wolfsbane through the app 'Blossom', and after doing some reading it's super poisonous!!!

I want to move it out the front where it would be safe from touch but I am now scared to even touch it 😂

Or is it wise to just be chucked in the brown bin??

Gloves on (just in case you’re one of the tiny percentage of people who have a skin reaction to it), up root it, and pop it in the bin.

Job done! Personally, I’d get rid, if ‘in the front’ risks kids touching it. But if not, then maybe you could replant it.

Thank you so much I think I will bin it

I'd put gloves on and move it to the front. My mother grew lots of poisonous things, including monkshood (wolfsbane/aconitum) and we were expected to recognise and avoid them from very young (preschool). The one thing she refused to grow was laburnum as it looks too much like peas.

I have a lot to learn.. Thank you both for your help!

Personally, I would bin that.
I don’t think it should be sold as even handling it is dangerous.
I actually knew a lady that was hospitalised after handling wolfsbane, she was a florist and left incredibly ill.
By ‘incredibly ill’ I mean she nearly died.

Gloves on (just in case you’re one of the tiny percentage of people who have a skin reaction to it), up root it, and pop it in the bin
Wolfsbane doesn’t cause skin irritation for a ‘tiny percentage’ of people, it is an incredibly poisonous very dangerous plant, handling it is enough to cause serious (life threatening) illness in a lot of people.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gardener-dies-after-brushing-against-deadly-wolfsbane-flower-millionaire-s-estate-9845675.html%3famp

I’d suggest posting a picture of it here before binning - the plant apps are by no means always accurate!

Wolfsbane doesn’t cause skin irritation for a ‘tiny percentage’ of people, it is an incredibly poisonous very dangerous plant, handling it is enough to cause serious (life threatening) illness in a lot of people.

Don’t panic, op.

Poisoning via touch is actually very rare (there’s plenty of monkshood growing in the Alps along the paths I go hiking, and no one has died from brushing past it yet).

The roots contain the most poison. This less sensationalist BBC article covers the same sad case, in which the coroner was not convinced that monkshood poisoning was the cause of death, and this experienced forager takes a more balanced view.

But yes, I do agree that putting it in a bouquet is bloody stupid.

I've got some which I tried to get rid of when DD was young but it grew back again. It never caused any problems, by the time she was old enough to be unattended in the garden she was old enough to know what not to touch. I wear gloves when cutting it back.
Our dogs leave it alone too (I've noticed the plants they nibble seem to be things used by traditional herbalists for benign purposes).

Wow I am only just seeing these replies! So panic or don't panic about it? Lol

I haven't even got round to moving / binning it yet as I am abit nervous not going to lie.

@ErrolTheDragon funny you say that about the dogs, my two don't go near it at all!

I have attached a picture of it, although I am pretty confident it is Wolfsbane.

Looks like a plant I used to stroke as a child.....

And look you survived!!!

It looks like it has flower buds from the picture so you’ll know for sure soon enough!

Each to their own but if it was in my garden I would don gloves and pull it up and bin it for sure.

Plants have different levels of toxicity, ones that are only dangerous if eaten, eg foxgloves, I’m more relaxed about (but still wouldn’t plant it anywhere children may access it) but Wolfsbane is dangerous even to handle.

No plant dangerous even to handle is worth planting imo no matter how pretty the flowers are.

@Moowcowk

And look you survived!!!

I did but my mom took me around my garden when I moved in and directed me to all the poisonous plants I needed to remove WTF didnt she remove poisonous plants when I was a child 🤣