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| Photo Credit: Lee Ivy |
| Children may be attracted to azaleas’ beautiful flowers, so watch them carefully around these plants – all parts of them are poisonous. |
Nine months old, and he’s on the move! My son has learned how to crawl and cruise, and I’m knee-deep in baby-proofing our home. As a parent, it’s my job to be one step ahead of him. While Lane isn’t walking yet, those first steps are right around the corner – and I’m constantly thinking of ways to protect him from harm, both indoors and out.
If you’ve ever been around babies, you know that anything within arm’s reach is fair game for mouthing. (Heck, even older kids sometimes chew on things without giving much thought of it!) And no matter how careful we may be, it’s hard to completely control exactly what goes in their mouths – and that includes plant parts. While severe reactions from plant poisons are rare, poisonous plants are best avoided altogether when you have children or pets. It’s important for anyone who has children in their care – parents, grandparents, day care providers, etc. – to identify any hazardous plants they may have in their yard and be vigilant about watching the kids when they play around them. I look forward to taking walks and exploring nature with my son someday, but I want him to be safe along our way. So I’ve made a list of the top common plants and fungi I plan to teach Lane to identify and avoid. First on my list are azaleas (Rhododendron sp.). These amazing shrubs are popular flowering favorites, and for good reason – they’re gorgeous. Grownups and kids alike are drawn to the blooms, but beware: All parts of this beauty are poisonous! While deer love them and are no worse for the wear, we two-legged types need to avoid ingesting any part of them. So it’s just best that your kiddies learn to look at azaleas with their eyes and not with their hands!
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