Poison Garden Created to Protect Children

Having seen children brought into the emergency room after ingesting poisonous plants found in their houses and yards, Gloria Leifer, an associate professor of pediatric nursing at Riverside Community College decided to design a special garden to educate nursing students about dangerous plants commonly found around the home. The garden, started in 1998, serves as a teaching tool for the college and is popular with students from all fields of study

Many plants grown in the typical landscape contain toxins. Often gardeners are unaware of the risks posed by the plants. Poisonous plants are particularly harmful to children and pets. Common plants such as daphne, morning glory, foxglove and apple seeds can be life threatening if ingested.

Nursing students at Riverside are asked to decide what treatment would be indicated if children were to ingest particular plants found in the garden. Awareness of commonly grown toxic plants is valuable to all. It can save lives.

A few websites identifying common poisonous plants are listed below in the links. It is advisable that readers look up information for their own locations as plants grown vary by region.

Links:

• Nursing students study toxic plants from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin


• Poisonous Plants from the the Texas State Department of Health and the National Safety Council via the Aggie Horticulture Network


• Common Poisonous Plants from the Toronto Humane Society


• Common Poisonous Plants from the Humane Society of the United States

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:32 PM on April 27, 2005