Familiar garden plants harbor poisons in their hearts.
Sounds dire, doesn’t it? Yet it’s true. Many well-loved and familiar flowers grown for their beauty actually have high levels of toxins and should be handled with great respect.
Simple, sweet autumn crocuses (photo above) contain a poison similar to arsenic.
Oleanders have a fragrance like fine perfume, but all varieties, and all parts of it are toxic. Heart-stoppingly toxic.
We love the colors and fragrance of sweet peas – not to be mistaken for edible peas you can grow for food. These lovely charmers contain a neurotoxin, so beware.
They are pretty and home-like, with their nodding heads of white and yellow, but the bulbs and leaves of all daffodils contain lycorine, an alkaloid poison.
So should I yank up all these flowers in my garden?
Not necessary. You can grow these, and other beautiful-but-deadly plants without losing sleep if you follow these common-sense guidelines:
- Be suspicious. Never eat a seed, leaf or flower that you don’t know 100%. Even edible seeds may have been treated with fungicide.
- Store seeds and bulbs out of the reach of children.
- Some plants, like the very poisonous yew berry, are juicy-looking and attractive. Teach your kids to recognize toxic plants growing around your neighborhood. Educate them never to eat strange plants.
- If you suspect poisoning, get medical help immediately – don’t wait.
Photo credits:
Autumn Crocus by epicnom via Flickr
White Oleanders by Cobalt123 via Flickr
Sweet peas by Pesotum74 via Flickr
White and Orange Daffodils by Martin LaBar via Flickr
More thought-provoking Green Prophet posts on plants and health:
Author: Miriam Kresh
Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
