Oleander - How Poisonous?
"Big Wave" wrote in message ...
Just purchased and planted a variety of trees and shrubs for our back yard. One is an Oleander plant. I bought it because it will grow big and the flowers are awesome. Should I be concerned about the toxicity of the plant? I keep reading that they are poisonous.

We have a 9 month old son and a dog. My concern is that they will accidentally touch or eat some of the plant and get sick.

Thanks!


It's not terrifically poisonous. Casual contact is harmless. Our local government in their wisdom has used them as street plants at various times and there are no cases reported of poisoning nor street marches demanding their removal. This doesn't mean that I would eat any of it.

I have heard that they taste bad (never tried it myself) so the dog will not touch it. The child, well in my experience little children at the "everything goes in the mouth" stage need to be watched to prevent them from ingesting a very wide variety of harmful things in the environment; berrys, beads and peas that can be inhaled are probably more danger. One more added to the list will not make any difference as you need to be vigilant in any case.

David