I know, isn't gardening such an dangerous hobby Shauna! LOL

Last year I was cutting some plants back around a Dictamnus Gas Plant, although I had my Atlas garden gloves on, within seconds my nose looked like a huge red clown nose or Karl Malden's nose ;) I went into the house and looked in a mirror and nearly fainted on the spot of how gross I looked. Within a couple of hours the swelling did go down, thank goodness! LOL
Later that day, I thought the only thing that could of caused this reaction was that I must of touched the Gas Plant and then scratched my nose?

And a few years back, I got a real bad allergic reaction to Ruta graveolens Rue Herb, this time I wasn't wearing gloves and my hands and arms broke out in these painful burning blisters. Today, I still grow the plant, but I now know not to touch it on a hot sunny day.

Hope your ok ;)
Sharon

Ouch, Shauna! Hope your finger gets better soon.

Sharon, I also had a run in with the gas plant. I didn't know that it could cause rashes and did some pruning on it without gloves. It took about a year before the scars from all the blisters totally faded away. Live and learn :)

Shauna,

I hope you finger gets better soon. I didn't realize that particular plant could cause a reaction, or for that matter that the gas plant could. I did know that Euphorbia 'juice' when pruning or dividing it could cause a reaction.

Syreeta

YIKES! Hopefully it gets better really soon and the infection goes away quickly.

Now I'm wondering about my DS and some strange things he's come into the house with! Two summers in a row he's gotten into something that cause his eyeball to swell up. He must have touched something! Its always gone away in about a day or two.

Shauna : ouch! I know that hurts! Quite a few years back I obtained some seeds from some datura plants, the first of which I had ever seen.

They struck me as being beautiful and my friend and I asked permission to gather the prickly pods (this was very late in the season and the building they had surrounded had actually kept the plant from freezing because we had had a few frosts already).

We picked them off BY HAND so I know what you are taking about (should a person keep a pair of scissors in their purse just in case?). Pondering on what to do with two large bags of pods, I decided to put mine in a brown paper bag (marked WHITE: ANGELÂS TRUMPET and put them a cupboard which I rarely use.

They stayed there all winter and I only opened up the bag come seeding time which for me was the end of March. I was pleasantly surprised to see that ALL the pods had shrivelled up and split apart: I had a ton of seed at the bottom! I shook the remaining pods that had seed in them bag and all. That was a great discovery: no pain, no handling those prickly pods except to remove them!

BTW, the datura had smooth stems, rather like deer antlersÂvery velvety and easy on the fingers. A year later I was given a prickly stemmed datura that was also white and also grew well in the gardenÂsaved seeds from them as well.

Ouch! Shauna.

I have a problem with strawberry leaves...I have to wear long sleeves and wash my hands right after I pick strawberries. Doesn't stop me though. haha!

Hope your finger is better soon!

Sierra

Tonight, I managed to get out the one residual thorn that was obviously causing all of the problem. Hopefully, it will now be on the mend. Created quite the ugly, red mess on my knuckle, though.

Thank you all for all of your kind concerns. It sure is nice to have all of these friends that care so much for one another. Right, Sharon and Mary?

Ohhhh, Sierra, strawberry greens are a bad one for me, too. But, I always put up with it because of the great reward.

Shauna

It sure is nice to have all of these friends that care so much for one another. Right, Sharon and Mary?
You bet Shauna, all you cold zoners here at the FN are like family to me, we gotta look out for each other ;)

Hugs,
Sharon

Speaking of poisonous plants...Have any of you ever had a problem with monkshood?

Two years ago, I was putting together a perennial flower bouquet for the local garden club show and I went to get the monkshood. I used scissors to cut it with, gently placed the stems into water in the vase and brought it inside. Then about 5 minutes later I needed to flip the page in the flower show book and I licked the tip of my finger first. Within seconds the tip of my tongue was going numb. I went to the bathroom and rinsed and rinsed my mouth...without swallowing at all. And..I also remembered that milk is supposed to be good for neutralizing poison...so I also then rinsed with milk. It took a little while but finally the numbness went away. I was amazed at how poisonous the monkshood is. I had only touched the monkshood leaves enough to put the stem into the vase. I hadn't even touched the cut where the scissors were used on the stem.

I had a girlfriend who replanted lily of the valley and had a bad reaction to it also.

But I have never heard of problems with strawberry leaves. Any idea what it is about the leaves that causes the problems?

You bet Shauna, all you cold zoners here at the FN are like family to me, we gotta look out for each other ;)

Sniffle. That's what i feel like sometimes too.

:)
Marcia,
who will remember to watch the thorns on her future datura plantes!

Ditto on what Sharon said. It's wonderful to meet such nice people who have common interests like gardening.

Shauna I hope you are feeling better and that your finger is back to normal. Those Datura pods are murder to clean as are seeds from Echinops (ouch) and Ornamental Peppers.

I have a friend who related a story (whether it really happened, I don't know) about a woman in Montreal who was cleaning dead leaves from her Datura plants. She got distracted and started talking to one of her neighbors. While she was talking with the neighbor, she unconsciously started to rub the Datura leaves that sheÂd picked off. A couple of hours later she became violently ill and had to be hospitalized. She may have forgotten to wash her hands afterwards or rubbed her eyes or whatever.

Why do we grow these things anyways? :>

Good Question! Whats the answer???

hee hee

Sierra

Because these plants are beautiful, but I guess we're just sensitive gardeners ;)

sensitive....na that can't be it.....wear long sleeves and leather gloves....awareness is everything.

Sierra :-)

I can't remember if it was the Datura or not that made the news. A few years back I think Kelowna (interior of BC) decided to grow Daturas' in the city plantings. Some teenagers decided to eat the seeds as you apparently would get 'high' off of them. I remember they all ended up in the hospital quite ill from this, I can't remember or not if one of them passed away. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone?

This is an extreme example of course, but who would eat something like that? I think the city even ended up being sued by parents for their kids sickness. Apparently the city was at fault for planting poisonous plants. What if the kids had eaten something out of the bush? Would the parents have sued the province for not eradicating that particular plant?

I guess what I'm saying is that I agree. You have to grow these types of plants with awareness and if you have children you need to teach them not to eat everything and to wash up after being outside. Maybe children of gardeners are luckier than most. They learn what is edible and what the plants actually look like.

Syreeta

I agree, Syreeta. It's the same with children of parents who are nature-lovers and spend time in the "bush" with their kids. My kids know a whole lot more than other kids about berries, flowers, bugs, birds, etc., and most of that wasn't actually "taught" to them - they just absorbed it from being around dh or i in the bush or at the lake and asking questions. One of the main things that we did teach them, though, was never to eat anything unless they knew for sure, i.e. had heard it from us, that it was okay to do so.

This may be a very stupid question, but I am sorta still new to gardening and I am not sure what a Dutura looks like, I have tried to look it up on the net, but I can't seem to find one. Can anyone show me what it looks like?
Thank you so much
Happy Gardening in 2006 everyone :)

Big_Thunder

I wanted to Thank you all for posting about it, but seems I can only send one message from this post?
Thank you all again, I sure do learn each time I come in to read the posts here
yours again in gardening
Big_Thunder

Ok we are not allowed to talk about "alternative uses" of plants on this forum but since Syreeta mentioned it, datura does have some properties that might make teenagers try it if you know what I'm saying. But it is highly poisonous and dangerous and I don't know how to prepare it as such so don't ask me. I believe it has to do with the roots anyway, not the seeds.

If I was in charge of a public planting I think I'd steer far clear of poisonous stuff anyway!

Big Thunder,

Try looking up angel trumpet or moon flower. They have large flowers that are scented at night. Most common have white flowers but lots of pink, purple and yellow are also available.

My MIL used to grow the white flowered variety and I remember years ago that she always started them in spring on the window ledges in the old house.

This is a very informative topic, especially for new gardeners. I grow the purple flowered and the white flowered daturas, so thought I would post pictures of these somewhat dangerous plants. I have 2 boys, who from a very early age were taught never to eat anything that you weren't 100% sure of what it was. There are many poisonous plants that we as gardeners grow, but education is the key.

Unfortuneately, I didn't get a very good picture of the leaves of this one(I was more concerned about getting the flower in focus ;0).

Common names can also be misleading too, as I have heard of Daturas referred to as Angel Trumpets, but I believe that Moon Flower is usually associated with the vine, Ipomoea alba, whose seeds are also poisonous, but I'm not sure if the plant is as well.

Maybe someone here knows of a website listing poisonous plants? It sure doesn't hurt to keep informed. I know somewhere I had seen a list like this awhile back and there were quite a few surprises that I didn't know about.

This is the best list I have ever found. If you click the latin name it goes into more detail.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poisonous Plants from Gov't of Canada

Thank you Laurie for posting pictures.

My MIL always grew "moon flowers". They were the angel trumpets that she was referring to. It was not a vine rather the upright plant just like Laurie posted.

Yes, the moon flower does look quite similar to the datura flower and both open up in the evening, so I think that maybe why people get them mixed up. I've tried growing the moon flower (Ipomoea alba) a few times and even gotten a couple of flowers from it, but, for me, the datura is far easier to grow ;0)

I want to thank all of you for answering my question, I sure will book mark this page you gave me as well!
valleyrimgirl ,northspruce & laurie_z3_mb I very much apprieciate the pictures and the URL's to the "Poisonous Plants from Gov't of Canada" I had one of those plants in my garden last year, but it didn't do a whole lot, this year for sure I won't be planting it as now I know of the dangers of it,my grandson loves to help me in the front gardens.
Somehow I feel a lot better knowing that I can come in and ask you all for information and you all seem so good at giving it to me. One day I hope to have a few answers too :) Though like I said, I am sort of still new to gardening on my own here.
With our weather being so warm this winter I can't help but to start thinking of where I am going to go with my seeds and plants again this year, I do love working in the earth!
This fall I bought a little green house from CTC (on sale of course) :) and I just can't wait to set it up once our days get a bit warmer.
Again, Thank you everyone, and I hope you are all happy, healthy, and ready to take on another year of digging and planting

Hey i found this by googling touching datura seeds, because i just opened a dried datura fruit and took half the seeds out, then i felt a prickly sensation on my index finger (that was the finger that touched the seeds most). its been about 10 mins and my fingers still feeljng prickly but i think its going down a little. anyway i wax just curious if you felt that as well?

thanks

erica