It’s wonderful to have fresh plants and flowers in your home and backyard. You get to enjoy their fresh, cheerful look and their amazing fragrances. So do your pets. Although most pets don’t bother with these,there are some pets enjoy plants a little too much, and may have a tendency to eat them. And while many plants wont hurt your dog or cat, some will– if you have pets, it’s important to consider their safety before planting or buying any kind of flower or plant.

Here, we’ll describe some of the dangerous plants that pose the biggest danger to your dog or cat and symptoms to look for.

1- Creeping Charlie. All parts of the plant. Creeping Charlie causing sweating and drooling. Symptoms are dramatic, but usually are not fatal.
2- Castor Bean. All parts are dangerous, but chewing the seeds is most dangerous. Castor bean causes nausea, abdominal pain, loose, bloody stools, dehydration, shortness of breath, thirst, bodily weakness, muscle twitching and convulsions, and even coma.
3- Johnson grass. Especially in younger plants, the leaves and stems are dangerous. They cause problems breathing, convulsions, coma, and death. Fortunately, an antidote exists for this plant, and can be given to the animal intravenously.
4- Jimson Weed. This plant causes an increase pulse rate, rapid breathing, restlessness, frequent urination, diarrhea, weight loss, weak pulse, convulsions, coma, and death.
5- Nightshade. This plant is dangerous for animals and humans alike. It causes hallucinations, severe intestinal irritation, diarrhea, sleepiness, numbness of skin and extremities, labored breathing, nasal discharge, weak and rapid pulse, paralysis, and severe shaking of the rear legs. It can be fatal.
6- Pigweed, Redroot. Pigweed causes trouble breathing followed by trembling and weakness, then potential coma and death.
7- Pokeweed, Inkberry. All parts of this plant cause diarrhea, colic, bloody stools, possible anemia, and occasionally death.
8- Rhubarb. The leaves of rhubarb plants are dangerous to pets. They cause trembling, difficulties breathing, weakness, diarrhea, and increase in drinking and urinating. They can be fatal.
9- Water Hemlock. Water hemlock is very dangerous and kills quickly. It causes dilated pupils, foaming at the mouth, muscles spasms, and convulsions. Death comes within 15 minutes to about 2 hours.
10- Yew. Yew causes problems breathing, trembling and weakness, heart problems, stomach irritation, and very sudden death.

Flowers are beautiful. They can brighten up a room and make everything in it seem more attractive and cheerful. For most people, a vase of flowers on the table signifies that the room is a happy, comfortable place to be. For most allergy sufferers though, a vase of flowers is far from inviting.

If you’re one of those unlucky people who enjoy fresh flowers but suffer from allergies, plastic flowers are not your only option. You just have to know which types of flowers are dangerous. Of the huge variety of flowers that you can plant or buy, there are many types that will affect your allergies very little, or even not at all.

Dangerous Flowers for Allergy Sufferers

The truth is, if your allergies are particularly severe, most flowers are going to affect you negatively. In general, the more harmful flowers are the ones that have a lot of pollen. So a good guideline when decorating with flowers is to avoid those that have visible pollen.

Tree flowers are particularly bad for allergy sufferers. If you are creating a flower arrangement, be careful not to include almond, cherry, orange or any other kind of tree blossom. Though they are beautiful flowers, they can have quite the detrimental effect on your allergies.

In addition, lilies can be a dangerous flower for allergy sufferers, as parts of them are covered in a powdery orange pollen. Strangely enough, however, they can also be a good choice for allergy sufferers, as it’s easy to simply remove the stems of pollen from each flower. Just have a friend or family member that doesn’t have allergies do this particular job for you, as the pollen will probably leave you sneezing in seconds!

Good Flowers for Allergy Sufferers

There are several types of flowers that affect allergy sufferers less. Chrysanthemums and daisies can be a good choice for those worried about their allergies. Because while regular mums and daisies do have lots of pollen, there are new hybrid types of these flowers called formal doubles that do not have any pollen at all, and therefore won’t aggravate your allergies. Forma double flowers were bred so that the parts of the flower used to produce pollen now produce petals. Watch out for regular mums and daisies, however, as they can affect your allergies. If in doubt, ask your florist.

Another great choice for the allergy sufferer is the rose. Roses are some of the most beautiful and elegant flowers you can find, and fortunately for allergy sufferers, they don’t have much effect on allergies. The reason for this is that their pollen is too large in size to be able to become airborne and truly infiltrate the respiratory system. If you’re still worried, choose a bouquet with little or no smell as less smell equals less pollen.

Last but not least, one of the best kinds of flowers for allergy sufferers is the orchid. Orchids are gorgeous and exotic flowers that come in an amazing variety of shapes and colours. Very few types of orchids cause any pollen-related allergies, and so are quite safe for those allergic to most flowers.