Garden

[Serenity-Now]

I'm trying not to freak here, but I just planted 3 Vanilla Scented Mint Crisp Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica hybrid) & have 4 little dogs, and just found out from an off-hand comment from a friend that many honeysuckle species are toxic to pets & children/'humans!  I don't know if this hybrid is or not, and this all played out after Cottage Farms (where I got them from) had shut down for the day, so I couldn't find out from them.  I left a message on Phillip Watson's FB page, but he is probably busy with life & I can't wait for that answer; & I called the National Poison Ctr, but they weren't sure, since the 'Lonicera' portion of the hybrid is often poisonous/toxic, but not the 'Japonica' portion.  

Unless someone else knows, I better err on the side of caution and go uproot those plants, pronto.  Does anyone know, before I have to take my little ones out for their next constitution?  

Many thanks for all helpful replies, this is alarming & disappointing.  IMHO, ALL plants & flowers sold on QVC should have a mention of whether they are possibly toxic, because I couldn't bear it if harm came to my pets or a little child, when I could have been forewarned.

[JustJazzmom]

Are your dogs planning to eat some of the honeysuckle?? That is where the poisoning comes from through ingestion.

Article on honeysuckle toxicity and pets/children

ASPCA List

Is Japanese Honeysuckle dangerous to animals?

[Serenity-Now]

'Are my dogs planning to eat it?'  Dogs often eat many things in the yard, including poisonous mushrooms & berries, which we are always having to be vigilant to locate & get rid of, at this time of year.  This plant is food-scented (vanilla mint), so I imagine it would be quite enticing to them.  I don't think this was a stupid Q at all, and I'm understandably alarmed right now.  Thank you for the link, I haven't tried that one yet since I am monitoring all the places I've asked for answers from.  I'll go squeeze that in, now.  

[ValuSkr]

So many ornamentals are toxic to animals.  Please try to keep your pet out of gardens - yours and those of the neighbors.

[Serenity-Now]

Oh, we never allow our pets to roam free around the neighborhood, because there are too many dangers for them.  There are warning labels on practically everything we buy now-a-days, but not a toxic alert tag on plants & flowers?  I think that's irresponsible of the industry, and should change for all our sakes; but I guess they are afraid we would not purchase these plants.  If I did, I would plant them far away from pet or childrens' interaction.  We should get a heads-up, to avoid tragedy.

[Serenity-Now]

UPDATE 07/02:  In my haste to find an answer, I made a colossal mistake:  this item is from Roberta's, not Cottage Farms.  

[Serenity-Now]

Newest Update:  Just messaged Eric from Roberta's, and he was kind enough to answer right away:  yes, these are toxic to dogs.  

QVC:  Really hope you will start listing toxicity info on the mailings, and giving them a cautionary mention.  This has been very stressful.

[Nataliesgramma]

I have honeysuckle bushes and I put a cute decorative fence in that corner to keep animals out. I have 2 Maltese that are basically house dogs, and I don't have them outside unless they are on a leash with me. I take them out to do their business on the other side of the yard too....

The one dog is 10yrs old.... and the bushes ...older than that....never had any issues. We have several neighborhood cats and they usually meet their demise by getting hit by a car in the street.

[Serenity-Now]

We live in the woods, and I just remarked to my dh the other day that I haven't seen a neigbhorhood cat in our area in many years, & wondered if it is becasue of the predators?  We don't have wolves, but we do have coyotes.  I don't think black bears would go after cats, but we also have those.  We never let our dogs out without someone with them, either.  But we don't have them on leashes, since we dig-proofed our fence & don't have plants in that area of the yard.  But the honeysuckle I had planted need a lot of sunlight, and the only other place I had to put them was on our second-floor deck, which overlooks the yard where the dogs run around.  I know plant debris would eventually drop down, and that is what I'm worried about @ this point.  Our furbabies come first, so the plants had to go!

Thank you for responding to my post, I was surprised to only get one reply.

[Mindy D]

The toxins in plants have been their defense and have helped them survive. There are so many plants and human foods and medicines toxic to pets that the best way to check is to look at the sites online which list these things. Even human kitchen garbage could be harmful. We owners just have to keep checking and being vigilant.