Blinkin foxgloves!!

[JCrakers]

Just found two foxgloves sprouted in my garden. They've literally come up over night because I'm sure they weren't there before. One is sprouting from next doors fence so im pretty sure they've come from there.
I was eating my tea, glanced out the window and saw one, then spotted the other by the back fence......It's like day of the triffids.

Just what I need... Will get rid of them tomorrow, just won't let the kids out until they're gone

[sarah707]

I am not sure I would recognise a foxglove! :panic:

I know they are poisonous so I just ask at the garden centre before buying anything...

Enjoy your gardening :rolleyes: :D

[PixiePetal]

They self seed very easily - we have them popping up. DH doesn't want to get rid of them as his mum who died planted them originally. I am gradually getting rid of ones where she intended them to be by the house and leaving the ones in places we don't use as much.

I do have them on my RA but TBH there are so many things in a farmhouse garden my size that could be 'dangerous', things you need to learn about in the countryside - nettles, brambles etc. I hope I am educating children in what is safe and what's not to touch, always supervised anyway too

[loocyloo]

:laughing: one has just 'popped' out from behind the pole my washing line is attached to! its about 4 ft tall! and full of flowers!

I operate a 'don't touch ANYTHING in the garden' policy, and we only touch what I say they can. we're always out and about in the woods & fields and come across them then as well. the children are always supervised in the garden too.

if they were growing in the childrens general play area, then I would remove them, but this one is growing in my grassed ( and over grown flower beds ) garden

[Samcat]

Mrs O picked up on the foxgloves in our garden at my pre-reg. My OH has a degree in botany and pointed out to her that if you tried eating them, many plants in most gardens would be harmful and if you took them all out there'd be nothing left. As PixiePetal says, we have to educate the children and supervise them.

[JCrakers]

Thanks. :)
My garden isn't too big, just a squarish shape, fenced, and I let the children out unsupervised. Like this morning I had a 4,3 and 2 yr old outside playing, viewable from the window and I was inside feeding another one.
So my garden is child proof as they are left while I cook lunch etc. so Im going to remove them. We do see them on the way to school and my 4yr old mindee knows but my other younger ones don't. I have a 3yr old who tends to do the opposite of what I say.

My 11yr old dd told me this evening that the foundation stage teacher is actually growing them in their playground because they had been told in assembly 'not to eat them'. Surely some random little rascal will try a nibble after being told not to.

[bindy]

God only knows how I survived my childhood! Lol Growing up in the country side, out doors all day, with only a bottle of water and a few jam sarnies, eating with dirty hands after touching worms ( probably ate a few) making slop with soil and water. I know I ate a few odd sweets I found on the ground! Climbing and falling out of trees, Lol So glad I'm not a youngster today!

[JCrakers]

I used to spend a lot of time outdoors. My mum always tells me a tale when she found me eating worms when I was about 18m old...well she found half a worm.

I was such an outdoors kids that when I broke my leg at 4yrs old I had to have my plaster changed three times because I wore out the bottom of it. They used their new super strength plaster for me to be back in for another plaster a couple of weeks later as I'd worn through it again.
I used to play in the brook at the bottom of my grans house. Her garden led onto fields and I used to go on my own, unsupervised from a young age. With the dog.....with no poopy bags :-o

I do feel sorry for today's kids..... But I still need to get rid of those blinkin foxgloves :)

[TooEarlyForGin?]

Mrs O picked up on the foxgloves in our garden at my pre-reg. My OH has a degree in botany and pointed out to her that if you tried eating them, many plants in most gardens would be harmful and if you took them all out there'd be nothing left. As PixiePetal says, we have to educate the children and supervise them.

I agree with this, bees love foxgloves, bees are dying, without bees we will die. Yes, we have to be careful, but surely we can't keep eradicating everything in case it does us harm. Education is they key, let out kids learn about nature. Mine grow at the back of our wilderness garden, and I always supervise children in the garden, and surprisingly children don't seem to want to eat them anyway.

[clareelizabeth1]

I just told OFSTED I was aware what was poisonous and even started to point out more things to her. It's life though I live in the country as do the children I mind they have to learn that they can not eat things just because they feel like it. Their parents wouldn't be to impressed it I taught them to either.

I also have a ditch going around my field they all learn they are not allowed near that too. I have some fox gloves growing in my garden at the moment I will transplant them to the field. Mostly because they are growing in the doorway of the playhouse.

I also noticed that I have a bumble bee nest in the middle of the garden the children play in. Not sure what to do about that one. Any ideas.

[dawn100]

I got a fab book on recognising poisonous plants and how poisonous they actually are after my initial cm training where they listed loads of plants which could cause harm including dandelions and it sent me into pure panic as most of the plants they mentioned on my training were growing in my very large garden.
The book was fab and I had it on stand by for my pre reg but also used a quote for it in the RA/plant policy, where it basically says we will all come into contact with poisonous plants at some point in our day, parks, woods, passing gardens etc but adults are far more likely to poison themselves by misidentifying plants and making herbal teas where as most poisonous plants taste bitter and therefore kids generally won't eat a large enough quantity to poison themselves. So between being able to identify the most dangerous plants and removing them from the play area and education of children not to touch or eat plants unless told it is safe that is how I keep children safe.

[room2grow]

I also noticed that I have a bumble bee nest in the middle of the garden the children play in. Not sure what to do about that one. Any ideas.

Have you looked up what kind of bees they are. We have some called miner bees, they borrow in the lawn and make tiny mole hills. But I was happy to find out they do not sting.

[Cottonsocks]

Have you looked up what kind of bees they are. We have some called miner bees, they borrow in the lawn and make tiny mole hills. But I was happy to find out they do not sting.

Miner bees are very docile. They can sting but seldom would.

[Tunja]

Just found two foxgloves sprouted in my garden. They've literally come up over night because I'm sure they weren't there before. One is sprouting from next doors fence so im pretty sure they've come from there.
I was eating my tea, glanced out the window and saw one, then spotted the other by the back fence......It's like day of the triffids.

Just what I need... Will get rid of them tomorrow, just won't let the kids out until they're gone


I have them all round the garden. Including by the back door. They are part of the learning experience. Fascinating flowers and leaves and a magnet for wildlife. Ofsted were happy with this and the fact children can identify flowers and told her not to be silly and eat them. They have been there at every inspection over the last 20 years. No child has ever tried to eat them and I still got outstanding on my last two inspections.:laughing:

[hectors house]

I have foxgloves growing in my garden - children know that the only flowers they are allowed to pick are the daisies on the lawn - when I take them to local woods I let them pick off the foxgloves flowers and put them on their fingers "Fox Gloves" Are all the people who are about to dig up their foxgloves in a panic going to dig up their daffodil bulbs too - they are very poisonous? I also have rhubarb growing right next to the childrens gravel digging area - leaves are poisonous - I have told parents this and they have all said they doubt very much that a child would fancy a nibble on one.

[ziggy]

I just see it as teaching children not to eat flowers/plants in same way we teach them to cross road safely, not to touch hot oven etc etc

As an elderly childminder i find this craziness so strange.

One of my 2yr old mindees ran across very very busy road at school fete last saturday (while with mummy and daddy). Apparently Mummy was very angry with school for not closing gate. Surely child should be taught not to run off, he doesnt when i have him!!!!!

Sorry to go off subject a bit but in my old lady view, I think we need to go back to teaching children about dangers rather than trying to create a sterile environment totally free of any slight dangers

[JCrakers]

It's really interesting that you all have them in your garden. I would agree that our society is bonkers nowadays and given the choice would leave them there but I was told by my DO when I set up that any dangerous plants have to be taken out.

I did notice this morning that foundation stage have them in their playground. My own two children have always been able to learn from their mistakes, that's how children learn but children nowadays often have dangers removed before they can see them.

But looking at it from a business point of view, what if one of the children was to get ill just the same if what if one of the children was to touch the oven....what if the phone rang and I went I side to get it to come back out to find my 18m old touching them?. If it was my own children, it would be my fault but mindees, I could get in trouble surely?
Not saying its right or wrong... Just curious :) :)

[hectors house]

I just see it as teaching children not to eat flowers/plants in same way we teach them to cross road safely, not to touch hot oven etc etc

As an elderly childminder i find this craziness so strange.

One of my 2yr old mindees ran across very very busy road at school fete last saturday (while with mummy and daddy). Apparently Mummy was very angry with school for not closing gate. Surely child should be taught not to run off, he doesnt when i have him!!!!!

Sorry to go off subject a bit but in my old lady view, I think we need to go back to teaching children about dangers rather than trying to create a sterile environment totally free of any slight dangers

Completely agree - if I dig up all my foxgloves in my garden I won't have the opportunity to show them to children and tell them they are poisonous then when they go into countryside or someone elses garden with parents the children won't be educated (you can bet most parents wouldn't know a poisonous plant if it bit them on the :censored:)!

And surely the point of risky play is to encourage children to think about staying safe for themselves - my mindees know that we go blackberry picking and can get the berries but they only eat berries if an adult says they can - most other berries are only safe for birds.

[bunyip]

My Ofsted inspector queried the presence of foxgloves in my garden, saing "they are poisonous if eaten." I then corrected her that they can be toxic by contact for many people and pointed out all the other toxic plants, including the potatoes, tomatoes and rhubarb that she'd only just commented on as a positive thing (IIRC, she'd just described them as "terrific") not to mention the beans we'd be growing later in the year and the coatings on almost all commercially-available seeds.

I explained that the foxgloves were at the back of the flower bed, against the hedge, out of reach of children so long as they follow the behavioural boundaries I set. I also explained that the children could identify them and knew not to touch them - then got one of the mindees to tell Mrs O the rules too, just to prove the point. I told her I could not take the children anywhere without the risk of contact with toxic plants. Foxgloves self-seed in the countryside, and shops/markets frequently display them where lo's can touch them. So should we avoid the town as well as the countryside and just keep the tinies indoors all the time?

The nice thing was that Mrs O actually listened, rather than being one of those with a pre-judged set of her own "do'" and "don'ts". That said, I'm well aware that I could get the other type of inspector next time around.

[hectors house]

I had a whacking great Castor Oil plant at the back of my flower bed on my first inspection - the inspector commented on it and asked what it was - I explained it was a Castor Oil plant and that I was aware that the eating the dried seeds would be fatal but I also explained that I know can identify all of the plants in my garden and know which are harmful which is part of my risk assessment. He was fine with that.

[Tunja]

It's really interesting that you all have them in your garden. I would agree that our society is bonkers nowadays and given the choice would leave them there but I was told by my DO when I set up that any dangerous plants have to be taken out.

If you take everything dangerous out you will have nothing left.

The grass may have 'worms' the mud may harbour e coli, the gravel and stones are a choking hazard, most plants have poisonous segments such as tomato and potato leaves. Lots have irritants in too. The ants may bite, the sun may burn. Perhaps the children should be wrapped in cotton wool and kept inside where it is 'safe'.

Might not be safe that way either, they may overheat in the cotton wool and it may be an irritant. Did you know water is toxic too?

[clareelizabeth1]

Have you looked up what kind of bees they are. We have some called miner bees, they borrow in the lawn and make tiny mole hills. But I was happy to find out they do not sting.

They have borrowed in the lawn discovered then while extending my flower bed. After they calmed down from me putting a fork through their home they have been very docile and I quite like watching them.

I keep honey bees so children well aware of dangers of going near insects homes.

[bunyip]

Soil is full of E-coli. Maybe the children should have hover-boots to avoid contact. :huh:

[Tealady]

On my first aid course they had a booklet with poisionous plants in.

Seem like tonnes of very common things aren't great. They may not kill you but they could irritate or make you sick. Buttercups were on there much to most peoples surprise.

We have fox gloves too. I love them, one of my favourite flowers. We have a large wild patch in our garden. I couldn't tell you half of what anything is but children are taught not to pick but we get such fascinating mini-beasts, frogs and moths & butterflys I'm not getting rid. Looks like we may be getting wild strawberries this year!

[ziggy]

oh my word, my lawn is full of buttercups. I had better get out with nail scissors and cut them all out while mindees are napping:laughing::laughing::laughing:

[tas]

Ahh foxgloves along with bluebells they are my favourite wild flowers and take me back to playing in the woods when I was growing up :)

[christine e]

My friend told Mrs O that she was all on getting the children to eat their dinners never mind the flowers in the garden :laughing:

[sing-low]

What about roses? Pricking fingers on thorns, I mean. Still trying to figure out how (if) to RA my beautiful climbing rose or whether to just cut it down. Current lo is 6 months so not a risk at the moment.

[Petshrinklj]

Oh no are foxgloves are poisonous. I had no idea. I've just planted a load for the bees. I think they are well pretty and I like to watch little bumblebees popping in and out of them. Assuming I'm thinking of right plant. I really need to get some plant knowledge before I start minding. I've recently moved and I don't what all plants and flowers are in this garden.

[Petshrinklj]

(you can bet most parents wouldn't know a poisonous plant if it bit them on the :censored:)! .

Lol yep like me. I need educating. I know not to prod nettles and brambles but that's about it.

[bunyip]

3 things to remember when writing a premises RA (or telling Mrs O that her paranoia is not sufficient to make you strim down every living thing in your garden):-


1. You wouldn't want to eat most things that grow in the average garden anyway.
2. Even the edible fruit and veg shouldn't go into lo's mouths before it has been washed by an adult - so that's what we all teach the tinies, isn't it?
3. Every 'harmless' plant is harmful to somebody.*

* It wasn't until one of my parents was recommended some naturally soothing aloe vera gel for her little chap's skin that she found he was allergic to aloe vera :( .