They do have brief but glorious season so I also grow them in pots so I can display them when n flower and then hide them while they feed up the bulbs for next year. Great perfume on some.
Lots of shrubby hibiscus in this new garden and one tender one in the living room too.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I had them in my garden in Spain,and they flowered all summer,but of course it will be different here,I will also have to be a bit more careful with pruning,they didn't like their branches touching,so we're always being sawn!🌸🌸🌸
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
It's not the first time MD has given advice re animals that is not untrue but is, IMO, irresponsible in the context. A better approach would I think be to plant the lily bulbs and say "lilies can be poisonous to cats - if you are concerned have a look at [reference a website or other comprehensive info source]". Simply stating he's never had a problem is unhelpful as it implies that it isn't really a problem at all - but he is not in a position to know that. Much as some of the 'advice' he gives in his book about his dogs is questionable at best and downright dangerous in some cases. Likewise feeding wild birds - why not just refer people to the RSPB website rather than giving his own ill-informed view?
He clearly is not particularly knowledgeable about looking after animals beyond his own experience (and Hostafan would probably say the same is true of plants). Giving advice based on personal experience is what we all do on this forum but MD has this 'expert' label attached to everything he says on TV. I think he should be far more careful about straying into areas he actually knows little about and he's not hired to discuss. If he says you can plant potatoes in a bag and you find out they just shrivel up and die, it's not a huge catastrophe - just rather frustrating. If you follow his advice on how to train a dog and the dog ends up being put to sleep because it bites your child, it's far more serious.
Amateurism is all very well, and I like MD as a garden magazine presenter because he isn't a know-it-all. But everything in its place, and when there's more at stake than a few failed seedlings, then I think the BBC should take much more care.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Exactly how toxic is it to cats and how much do they need to eat and how likely is it that they will do so?
I think a lot of urban legends exist in gardening and people being faux outraged when they have zero facts to back it up is more outrageous.
It can cause severe kidney damage, possibly death. Honestly I'm a little shocked at how many people don't realise how deadly it is. You only have to google it to see pages and pages of information relating to how toxic it is.
Unlike Monty I would NEVER risk having a Lilly, even outside. It doesn't take much for your cat to be poisoned, and unless it gets treatment within hours it may not survive.
I'm happy to see some Lilly bulb packs give a warning. If only the ones sold in pots had one.
I'm very disappointed in Monty and the producers to make light of such a toxic plant. Some people on the fence may think its okay to go out and buy Lillies now thinking "Oh it wont happen to me then". Cats can be as different as people. You can't predict them not accidentally brushing it, or chewing it. Call me paranoid if you wish, but I take my cats' well being very seriously as if she was family. Who am I kidding? She is family
I think that the lilly problem should be taken seriously and would suggest that cat owners make sure that their pets stay on their own property so that they can be sure that they do not pick up lilly pollen in neighbouring gardens. It really is the only safe way to go.
It's not a huge problem in terms of numbers because lilies are tall plants and cats, on the whole, won't come in to contact with them. But that doesn't mean they aren't poisonous. People used to give chocolate to dogs all the time, probably not many dogs died of sharing a kid's kitkat. That doesn't mean that dogs don't die of chocolate poisoning - they do. Lily toxicosis for cats has not been known about for very long (by people, cats may have been aware for longer) but that has more to do with our limited interest in researching things that are poisonous to pets. It's only very recently that vets have been in a position to collate the sort of information that allows us to know this sort of thing. Until really very recently, if a cat died no one would think of wondering why.
But if it's your pet cat, a member of your family as Rubyleaf says, one cat becoming even very sick, let alone dying, is enough to make it a serious problem.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Posts
Lots of shrubby hibiscus in this new garden and one tender one in the living room too.
He clearly is not particularly knowledgeable about looking after animals beyond his own experience (and Hostafan would probably say the same is true of plants). Giving advice based on personal experience is what we all do on this forum but MD has this 'expert' label attached to everything he says on TV. I think he should be far more careful about straying into areas he actually knows little about and he's not hired to discuss. If he says you can plant potatoes in a bag and you find out they just shrivel up and die, it's not a huge catastrophe - just rather frustrating. If you follow his advice on how to train a dog and the dog ends up being put to sleep because it bites your child, it's far more serious.
Amateurism is all very well, and I like MD as a garden magazine presenter because he isn't a know-it-all. But everything in its place, and when there's more at stake than a few failed seedlings, then I think the BBC should take much more care.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Unlike Monty I would NEVER risk having a Lilly, even outside. It doesn't take much for your cat to be poisoned, and unless it gets treatment within hours it may not survive.
I'm happy to see some Lilly bulb packs give a warning. If only the ones sold in pots had one.
I'm very disappointed in Monty and the producers to make light of such a toxic plant. Some people on the fence may think its okay to go out and buy Lillies now thinking "Oh it wont happen to me then". Cats can be as different as people. You can't predict them not accidentally brushing it, or chewing it. Call me paranoid if you wish, but I take my cats' well being very seriously as if she was family. Who am I kidding? She is family
It's not a huge problem in terms of numbers because lilies are tall plants and cats, on the whole, won't come in to contact with them. But that doesn't mean they aren't poisonous. People used to give chocolate to dogs all the time, probably not many dogs died of sharing a kid's kitkat. That doesn't mean that dogs don't die of chocolate poisoning - they do. Lily toxicosis for cats has not been known about for very long (by people, cats may have been aware for longer) but that has more to do with our limited interest in researching things that are poisonous to pets. It's only very recently that vets have been in a position to collate the sort of information that allows us to know this sort of thing. Until really very recently, if a cat died no one would think of wondering why.
But if it's your pet cat, a member of your family as Rubyleaf says, one cat becoming even very sick, let alone dying, is enough to make it a serious problem.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”