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Do you grow Aconitum's?
..whilst it isn't conclusive that the gentleman died from this cause...I won't be taking any chances with these again..and yet to think in my younger, earlier days of gardening I used to plant Aconitum without gloves along with dead heading...and dividing.. as I was not aware..at least I don't recall being so...of it's deadly propensities...I would surely have worn gloves had I been so informed...
..I don't think we were warned in those days back in the 1980's... which isn't so long ago really...
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They are very poisonous, but as usual, a slight exaggeration by the press. I would always wear gloves, but that is all.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Many of the plants we grow in the garden are poisonous. I love aconitums and grow several forms. The bees and other pollinators love them too.
We just have to treat our plants with respect.
too much of a credibility gap for me, unless the gardener had a specific sensitivity.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I grow aconitums and am thinking of about getting more but have always known the roots especially are deadly poisonous, so I wear gloves and am really careful around them. As Obelixx says, many plants are poisonous, like laburnum seeds which I would never grow if children are around. Deadly nightshade and lords and ladies are others, although they are more native hedging plants than in gardens.
A more common hazard I think is septicemia from scratches & cuts, especially from the roses/manure combo. They used to vaccinate against tetanus as well but I can't get a top up any more - presumably the cost of so doing outweighs the risk.
I'm not convinced that just brushing past it would kill you. Otherwise there would be dead nursery men all over the country. For multiple organ failure,you would have to eat some.
..well...I do wonder if any number of people in the past, who have gardened, will have been fatally poisoned by this plant which ultimately causes paralysis of the heart, but the cause of death put down to myocardial infarction...
..whilst there's certainly a bigger risk in getting into a car...that's usually essential for most of us... Aconitum's are not.. I might ask why they are still for sale, to be honest..
If they stopped selling any plant which has the capability to kill you, one ay or another there would be very little gardening. And if you add in things like garden ponds and many tools..... well the list is endless really
About Laburnham, there always seemed to be one in school playgrounds