Comments on: Murder in the Garden

By: Jenni in KS

Jenni in KS — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:11:51 +0000

Um, is that Wikipedia article for real or did you write it? It just doesn’t seem quite credible in some parts.

Also, am I the only one who thinks Devil’s Twinkie and Zombie Cucumber sound a bit dirty?

By: sherry

sherry — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:29:04 +0000

Scarlet runner bean is a nice, old-timey climbing vine with a brilliant scarlet flower that the hummingbirds just love. And you can eat the beans. Bonus!

By: Lady Fi

Lady Fi — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:25:51 +0000

Now you know what to sell the guy who wanted a tree without leaves or branches!

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:08:42 +0000

I love how your humor is evident all through your postings. I guess I wouldnt read your blog on a daily basis if I didnt find you hilarious. Also, you are MUCH taller than I thought having seen your photo next to PW and your sister. I am used to seeing your feet, hands, fingers, etc. in your photos. Not the entire Rechelle.

By: Jojo

Jojo — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:02:28 +0000

Hmm…I wonder if any of these could help with the raccoons in the trash problem we have recently developed.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:16:35 +0000

Well…( do you notice that I use these fun little dots too??) I’ll just file away all the flora-esque knowledge for now. One never knows when that might come into play, does one?

I just wanted to officially thank you for the profound knowledge of the appropriate spelling of the phrase “nip it in the BUD.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve read (or heard) of people nipping it in the “BUTT” I’d be a very rich woman.

Knowledge is power.

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:33:22 +0000

I think castor beans are gorgeous! They are also good for repelling burrowing critters, like moles, from the garden. I used to grow a ‘dwarf’ castor bean that only got about 5 feet tall. It had red veins in the leaves and flowers. I also grew a green one that was about 10 feet tall! Alas, I live in the desert now and I really miss my Kansas garden ‘friends’.

By: becky up the hill

becky up the hill — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:21:18 +0000

What a great blog! I knew some of it and some I didn’t. I remember buying Foxglove when my youngest was four. I told him it was poison and he was old enough for me to have it in our garden. I forgot how dramatic he was..he threw a loud fit, wailing away..begged me not to buy the “poison plant”, right there in the garden center..this was in the late 80′s. His older brother who didn’t do drama, stood there mortified. If it wasn’t for that embarrassing moment in the garden center, I’d never remember buying this Foxglove.

By: the domestic fringe

the domestic fringe — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:21:52 +0000

Wow! Cool post. I’m a little afraid to buy plants now. Not that I go around eating my plants, but I do have kids and a dog. I can never be too sure about them, any of them.

-FringeGirl

By: april

april — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:57:26 +0000

This should be an article in a garden magazine. So, when you come off you Datura high and read this comment, then send it hence forth to be published.

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:48:26 +0000

What an educational post! With this research, and your previous post about Jane Austen, you have the makings of a romance/murder novel in your hands. Have you considered writing one?

By: Anoria

Anoria — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:43:35 +0000

My mom started growing castor beans in our yard last year. Since the little kids in our neighborhood have long since grown old enough not to eat random berries and plants they find around, and the plants get tall enough that there’s not a lot of worry about ground-dwelling animals getting to the seeds, she let them flower and produce seed pods. They may be poisonous but they’re so neat looking! They’re red and spiky and just the oddest thing to find in a little vase on someone’s desk.
I keep hearing conflicting stories about whether pointsettia plants are poisonous. Any input from the gardening expert here?

By: sharon

sharon — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:41:15 +0000

So I am wondering why you have these plants in your home? Think you can take the chance since your husband is the country doctor?

By: caren

caren — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:55:06 +0000

nip it in the bud – and I thought that was just Barney Fite’s saying. That is so interesting. I can’t have live plants in the house as my cat eats anything live then throws it up all over the house. Nasty little habit. I remember my grandmother telling me about plants she had in her gardens and some were poisonous and some were there to keep bugs and animals out. She had such a green thumb and could grow anything. She would go somewhere and take cuttings off of plants and trees and then next time you would visit her it would be growing like crazy in her garden. She had a large garden of veggies and flowers. I miss that and her.

By: Jeanette in Texas

Jeanette in Texas — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:53:30 +0000

Don’t forget the oleander plant. I was always told the story about the cub scouts roasting hotdogs on olenader sticks and dying. I looked it up and found this: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/oleander.asp