Lily of the valley how toxic ?

[HeidiOK]

Hi everyone new here, have been browsing the threads and have to say a lot of excellent advice, I want to say I don't have a green thumb, wouldnt say it is brown but mayb a light shade of green with a little yellow thrown in

Anyways my question is about lily of the valley, I have an area out by my mailbox that I want to put something in that will spread and fill it up, I can water it but other then that I don't want to do much else to it ( well fertilize it too ) and bought some lily of the valley sets from the local feedstore, I love what they look like on the box and it also says they smell good. Did a google search on them after I got home and found out they are toxic !!

I have a couple of dogs, they don't really mess with my plants unless it is to step on them and a 18 month old grand daughter, the area where I want to plant hardly anyone except the mail lady has access to, its close to the road and dogs or baby are not allowed out there, but after reading the info on the toxic lily of the valley I am worried about planting it. I think the worst thing to happen is a dog may run threw it but since they are not allowed there I doubt it, but I am a over protective granny and keep thinking what happens if baby picks a leaf or rubs her hands on it if she should get close enough.

Does anyone know how toxic it is ? Can it harm you if you don't ingest it ? If it is as toxic as google has lead me to beleive is there anything else comparable that could work in the location ? It gets dappled shade in the morning and about an hour or two of afternoon light, late afternoon light.

Thanks for any help

[Kisal]

I don't really have an answer for your question, other than to say that Lily of the Valley is one of my favorite flowers. I was reared by my grandparents, and the yard was full of those plants. I picked many a bouquet of them, and it never hurt me. Our dog never paid any attention to them.

I have read that the water in a vase of Lily of the Valley is also poisonous, but then, I've never felt the inclination to drink it.

Unless your grandchild is likely to be crawling around in the flowers and has a tendency to eat plants, I wouldn't worry about it. JMO.

[thanrose]

I'm another that grew up with these, picked and handled and relocated them many times. Well, maybe not the moving them so much, but at least twice, most likely barehanded. Once in Edmonton and once in Atlantic City. Very old school plant, much loved on several continents. I personally know of no one poisoned by lily of the valley.

If you are confident that you have common sense, and that your grandchild is being raised with common sense, and that your dog is a healthy well adjusted dog, well then you have nothing to fear. I don't mean that as a slam at all. We've just all seen or heard of too many people without a lick of sense.

So maybe if your child's spouse doesn't know general rules of behavior that you think everyone ought to know, your grandchild may need some remedial guidance. Stuff like don't let the water run, don't lick the dog, say please and thank you, watch for traffic both ways, and don't put plants in your mouth unless you know they are edible and clean.

Even I don't know absolutely every organism growing or living in my yard as toxic or nontoxic. Pretty good, but not wholly. I eat a lot of foraged plants in relative terms, but I just don't eat what I don't know to be edible. Period.

[HeidiOK]

Thank you all for the replies it is very much appreciated !! I have seen the lily of the valley being used in many landscapes and even the box doesn't mention it being a toxic plant, I think maybe a lot of over reaction is what I read when I googled it, like I said dogs have no access to very little access to the area and by now know that they are not allowed in my plants anyways and grand baby wont be allowed to run rampant in them either, as was said its pretty much common sense , which I agree whole heartily is a sense very lacking in some of the human race lol

I think back now to our first family home when we lived in AZ we had about 10 oleanders in the front yard, my two children played in the area as well as our dogs and nothing ever became of it, I hadnt thought of those oleanders in years but it is a plant that I know is toxic and remember telling the kids don't eat the &%$^ things, which I have never seen my kids eat any plant anyways, I suppose some kids do eat plants but I have always liked my lanscape and don't allow my hard work to be destroyed by kids or dogs/pets its just normal.

I am going to plant my LOV's and enjoy them, I also read they are invasive, but thats a good thing if they adapt to the area they can have the run of it, its kinda what I wanted anyways for the spot, I really wanted to get some mexican primrose another invasive plant but I cannot find any here in OK but planning on stealing some of my sisters when I visit in az next month !