No shortage of dirty stuff in my daughter’s garden, she has a mud kitchen with lots of pots and pans for her little charges to play in. Some come to her being frightened to get mucky but they soon come round, she’s got a flooded part of her garden that they can put on wellies and splash around in. needless to say they never want to go home.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I think some parents nowadays are terrified of a speck of dirt though @Lyn. All that endless sanitising with chemicals can't be good for kids either. I find it quite horrifying sometimes when I hear what some parents do!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Clearly no evidence in this case that there was a link to the monkshood but comment from Chelsea Physic Garden (a source qualified to make such comments) suggests there is good reason to be careful around the plant. I've a toddler and I would not expect her to eat plants in the garden randomly but she would pull a flower to her face to sniff it. I constantly monitor her in the garden because there are other big hazards (steep banks, razor sharp brambles) but I appreciate being able to do that is a luxury most parents don't have.
As a suspense and mystery fiction writer, characters in mystery novels are always killing people with Aconitum. Have you watched the serial killer TV series Dexter? Dexter's girlfriend was an Aconitine killer who ground the plant's most poisonous roots and fed them to her victims . . . well, to the rapist who kept her a slave or something.
"A. napellus has been used since ancient times as a poison used on spears and arrows for hunting and battle. As wolfsbane, it was believed to repel werewolves (and real wolves!). Ancient Romans used it as a method of execution.
"In poisonings, the onset of symptoms occurs within minutes to a few hours after swallowing. The severity of aconitine poisoning is related to the rapid onset of life-threatening heart rhythm changes. Other symptoms can include numbness and tingling, slow or fast heart rate, and gastrointestinal manifestations such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Respiratory paralysis and heart rhythm abnormalities can lead to death. The treatment is symptomatic and supportive; there is no specific antidote."
Children are always putting things in their mouth. Best warn them with like a "THIS PLANT WILL KILL YOU" sign -- Do children heed them or is it an invitation for a dare?. Or get the plant out of their way.
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Some come to her being frightened to get mucky but they soon come round, she’s got a flooded part of her garden that they can put on wellies and splash around in.
needless to say they never want to go home.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Clearly no evidence in this case that there was a link to the monkshood but comment from Chelsea Physic Garden (a source qualified to make such comments) suggests there is good reason to be careful around the plant. I've a toddler and I would not expect her to eat plants in the garden randomly but she would pull a flower to her face to sniff it. I constantly monitor her in the garden because there are other big hazards (steep banks, razor sharp brambles) but I appreciate being able to do that is a luxury most parents don't have.
"A. napellus has been used since ancient times as a poison used on spears and arrows for hunting and battle. As wolfsbane, it was believed to repel werewolves (and real wolves!). Ancient Romans used it as a method of execution.
"In poisonings, the onset of symptoms occurs within minutes to a few hours after swallowing. The severity of aconitine poisoning is related to the rapid onset of life-threatening heart rhythm changes. Other symptoms can include numbness and tingling, slow or fast heart rate, and gastrointestinal manifestations such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Respiratory paralysis and heart rhythm abnormalities can lead to death. The treatment is symptomatic and supportive; there is no specific antidote."
https://www.poison.org/articles/why-is-monkshood-considered-a-poison--174
Children are always putting things in their mouth. Best warn them with like a "THIS PLANT WILL KILL YOU" sign -- Do children heed them or is it an invitation for a dare?. Or get the plant out of their way.