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So I was at Lowes today, had to pick up some lighting fixtures, and the best parking was near the garden center.......I swear I didn't mean to look at the plants......but I couldn't......turn........away........!
They're starting to discount their summer plant stock.....some yummy deals are appearing . I walked out with a Yellow Wing Hibiscus, 2 Firebush (2 for $5.00 !), and a Datura Metel ($8.00 and it's HUGE!)........ooooh, it's niiiice!
Thanks to Karla with a K, I have 2 Angels Trumpets (Brugmansia) seedlings doing very well and I can't wait for their creamy, yummy smelling flowers to appear one day. Now this Datura joins them.......
The Datura has a black stem that gets knotty and woody with age and dark purple flowers that open to a mottled purple and white with an all-white interior - they're spectacular! They look like something that would be growing in the front yard of the Addams house (y'know, The Addams Family ).
Now I know these are highly poisonous, as are the Angels Trumpets, so I'm careful, but their danger seems to make all the more fabulous. I'm thinking of an Oleander hedge in the front of the house too......what is it about these mysterious plants?
Does anyone else garden with some of these strange exotics? Are there some that you just adore despite their potential toxicity?
::sigh::
I had some pretty cool plants back in Colorado, home and garden, and had to say goodbye to all of them.
Now I am in an entirely new environment--some of the plants that seemed like such "specimen" plants back there are ho-hum here!
Though I did know Angel's Trumpet back in Colorado, and had a little one, but I am a bit confused about the difference between it and Datura.
I was wondering how dangerous oleanders really are? This guy told me that he did actually feel a bit sick after trimming his.
Actually, my biggest love is ferns--I yearn for ferns!--I've had a thing for them ever since I was a kid. I love how they are primitive yet intricate, and I love their scent--it smells like *green* to me.
::sigh::
I had some pretty cool plants back in Colorado, home and garden, and had to say goodbye to all of them.
Now I am in an entirely new environment--some of the plants that seemed like such "specimen" plants back there are ho-hum here!
Though I did know Angel's Trumpet back in Colorado, and had a little one, but I am a bit confused about the difference between it and Datura.
I was wondering how dangerous oleanders really are? This guy told me that he did actually feel a bit sick after trimming his.
Actually, my biggest love is ferns--I yearn for ferns!--I've had a thing for them ever since I was a kid. I love how they are primitive yet intricate, and I love their scent--it smells like *green* to me.
All parts of Oleander are poisonous, just like Angels Trumpet (Brugmansia), and I think all parts of Datura are poisonous too (I know the flowers are).
Of course, we're not considering ingesting them to get high, but just in handling them, I think it depends on the individual. My mom can't even touch Confederate Jasmine without having a problem, and that's not a poisonous plant (just a sticky sap). I think the greatest danger is if you had a child or pet that might ingest a flower, seed, etc. My dogs only eat grass, but I'm still keeping an eye out when they're near the Datura (it's the only one in their reach right now.....I'm probably going to pot it so it's further out of their reach).
I think one difference between Angel's Trumpet and Datura is in the look - the Angel's Trumpet flowers face down and the Datura's face outwards and upwards. Check out this site, I found it when I was looking up Datura info:
(click on the plants section and you can look up Datura, Belladonna, etc.)
I think one difference between Angel's Trumpet and Datura is in the look - the Angel's Trumpet flowers face down and the Datura's face outwards and upwards.
Of course! Duh.
It's funny how both of those varieties have sort of a beautiful-yet-dangerous *look* to them. At least, they do to me.
I am enjoying living in a fern-friendly climate.
One of my neighbors has a humungous staghorn fern hanging in her alley.
I love stuff like that.
The thread title confused me. I thought you were referring to plants that creep, like Wandering Jew, Ivy, etc. I love creeping plants.
As for "creepy" plants, there's no such thing to me. I have Datura on my patio and it's no better or worse than the banana trees, impatiens, ferns or anything else I grow. If it's pretty, I like it. Simple.
The thread title confused me. I thought you were referring to plants that creep, like Wandering Jew, Ivy, etc. I love creeping plants.
Ha Ha! Sorry for the confusion.....yeah, I love "creeping" plants too - I have a real thing for Creeping Fig and some of those glossy groundcover Jasmines .
Really I was speaking of the "dangerous" plants - the beautiful but poisonous ones (like Datura, Brugamansia, Oleander, etc.).
I have dogs and a cat that occassionally hangs out in the yard, so I have to think of them whenever I plant something - will the plant hurt them in any way? Does it have thorns? Is it poisonous?
Some of the beauties are deadly poisonous (to people and pets), so up until now, I've tended to shy away from them. But with the danger comes incredible smelling flowers, unusual exotic looks, etc.
So I was sort of wondering how people deal with the poisonous aspect of these plants if they have kids or pets? Is it crazy to take a chance and plant these in the garden, or am I worrying about nothing?
Any kind of vine or ivy can get completely out of control in my opinion if it is allowed to climb something such as a tree or a house. Once this occurs then the ivy is very hard to manage and is a BIG PAIN. The worst example is when English Ivy takes over a tree. Sometimes it weakens the tree and kills it or escapes into the wild. English Ivy is not recommended for landscaping at all for the most part. Kudzu is the other vine that is completely taking over areas of the southeast. This has also posed some big problems all over the place.
I have dogs and a cat that occassionally hangs out in the yard, so I have to think of them whenever I plant something - will the plant hurt them in any way? Does it have thorns? Is it poisonous?
Some of the beauties are deadly poisonous (to people and pets), so up until now, I've tended to shy away from them. But with the danger comes incredible smelling flowers, unusual exotic looks, etc.
Toxic plants have a horrible flavor and are not tempting to animals or children. That's my defense of them. If you have a "special needs" child or an animal that will chew anything regardless of its horrible bitter taste, then you have to be careful. Other than that, I really don't think plants are something to worry about for toxic purposes because the toxins are naturally bitter-tasting and there's nothing about them that is tempting to eat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plains10
Any kind of vine or ivy can get completely out of control in my opinion if it is allowed to climb something such as a tree or a house. Once this occurs then the ivy is very hard to manage and is a BIG PAIN. The worst example is when English Ivy takes over a tree.
I completely agree! I live in a wooded apartment complex and there is ivy that had climbed way up into the huge shade trees near the creek. I spent a lot of time killing those vines, then got yelled at by a neighbor who thinks it looks ugly now with the dead vines. But I explained to him that I was saving the trees and possibly sparing him from a giant limb (or a whole tree) crashing into his apartment. He didn't seem to get it. So he's still mad at me. Oh well... I'm a warrior against invasive plants and can't imagine how genocidal I'd feel if Kudzu showed up on this property!
Any kind of vine or ivy can get completely out of control in my opinion if it is allowed to climb something such as a tree or a house. Once this occurs then the ivy is very hard to manage and is a BIG PAIN. The worst example is when English Ivy takes over a tree. Sometimes it weakens the tree and kills it or escapes into the wild. English Ivy is not recommended for landscaping at all for the most part. Kudzu is the other vine that is completely taking over areas of the southeast. This has also posed some big problems all over the place.
heh
At our old house in Denver, we had trumpet vine growing at the front porch.
That same trumpet vine also grew into the attic as well as the basement.
It was unreal. It was like the Feed Me plant in Little Shop of Horrors.
It did attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and that was cool, but periodically we had to cut it down to practically nothing.
It always came back.
Isn't English ivy also poisonous for animals?
Toxic plants have a horrible flavor and are not tempting to animals or children. That's my defense of them. If you have a "special needs" child or an animal that will chew anything regardless of its horrible bitter taste, then you have to be careful. Other than that, I really don't think plants are something to worry about for toxic purposes because the toxins are naturally bitter-tasting and there's nothing about them that is tempting to eat.
That's true......I forgot about that - it won't taste good . That is a good deterrent.
Though I have one dog that eats things that come out of the cat - both the front and back end of the cat.......there's no accounting for taste with that dog . "Coprophagia", I think they call it. What's a little toxic plant when you eat p**p?!
I have a close relationship with the Monarchs.......butterflies, that is . I have a row of Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) across the back of the house and have increasing generations per year being hatched there. Now there's an example of announcing your toxicity - the plant, the caterpillars, and the butterflies themselves are all toxic and announce themselves as such with their patterns/appearance .
Thanks Harvester, that does put my mind at ease some .
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!
. I walked out with a Yellow Wing Hibiscus, 2 Firebush (2 for $5.00 
!), and a Datura Metel ($8.00 and it's HUGE!)........ooooh, it's niiiice!
.
. "Coprophagia", I think they call it. What's a little toxic plant when you eat p**p?! 
