NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN FOR AUGUST 15, 2015
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DANGEROUS?
GLADYS JEURINK
Looking in my books, I dug up a little one called “Wicked Plants”
by Amy Stewart, to see what we may be growing and what they could do.
One that many of us keep is ALOE VERA because of its magic relief of
burns and scrapes when we put a small piece on the hurt. It is easy to
grow, does not demand much water or fertilizer and a loose soil.
But do not let your cat eat it as it can cause convulsions,
paralysis, and severe irritation of the mouth, throat and digestive
tract. All parts of LILIES are also toxic to cats, and can cause kidney
failure.
CASTOR BEANS are fun to grow, especially the ones with the big
red leaves, but not if there is likely to a child who likes to put
things in their mouth. The
beans can get to 10 feet tall. The seeds are big and interesting but
they contain RICIN. If you
remember, RICIN has been used recently to kill. Castor Oil has been a
common home remedy for ages but the RICIN has been removed. Castor oil
is used in some cosmetics.
YEW TREES (Taxus species) are popular all over our yards. They
can stand a shady area, slow growing, with some known to be 200 years
old. Most parts of the YEW TREE are poisonous. In England it is called
the grave yard tree. It is not
all bad as Taxol, a YEW extract is used to fight ovarian, breast, and
lung cancers. “Taxus baccata” is the English YEW.
For years I have had a PENCIL PLANT (Euphorbia TIRUCALLI) also
called MILK BUSH that grows into a weird form going in all directions,
with only a few small leaves. I can break off a “pencil” and it will
root into a new plant and the mother plant will drip milky, sticky sap
for some time. There is one called “Fire Sticks” with reddish stems.
However, I have noticed people being
sensitive to the Euphorbia group that causes severe rashes and eye
irritation. So if you plan to get one also get a pair of gloves you can
wash or is disposable. My plant has gotten to be a jungle of sticks
about 4 feet tall.
Another plant that is sold in Garden
Centers and has very long (12 to 18 inches) trumpet shaped blooms is the
ANGEL TRUMPET. You can have a “Datura” that has blooms that look upward
or a “Brugsmania” that has blooms that look down. Both are poisonous.
Both are not hardy but produce many seed pods about the size of an egg,
and covered with spikes. The trumpets may be white, orange, bright
yellow, or purple. There is a native white one called JIMSON WEED, named
after Jamestown Island in Virginia. New settlers died after eating the
seeds when they ran out of food.
The ANGEL TRUMPETS were written into several murder mysteries as
a result.
If you have a LILY POND you have
probably bought WATER HYACINTHS for their lovely lavender bloom. In
Southern parts of the United Sates they have been banned because they
reproduce so fast they clog waterways and provide cover for Snakes and
Crocodiles. They are not hardy in Nebraska so do not cause that problem
here. Copyright 2015. |