Certain shrubs, perennials and annuals can be quite toxic, and if consumed by young children, can even be fatal.

When planning a new garden it is wise to exclude poisonous plants until your children are of an age to understand the danger these plants can pose.

It is surprising, when researching into what is poisonous and what is not, what one can discover.

Among these, some plants have quaint or colourful flowers that are attractive, yet to chew the petals or eat the berries can cause vomiting and palpitations.

The oleander is one of the deadliest of all shrubs. Both their flowers and leaves can be fatal.

When pruning an oleander, a white sap exudes from the stems which should not be licked from your hands. Just wash it off when you have finished pruning.

The popular indoor plant dumbcane is also poisonous and, if the leaves are chewed or bitten, salivating and burning of the mouth can occur. The Roman patricians would sometimes give a leaf of this plant to their slaves, the tongue would swell and the slave would be silent for some time to come.

Castanospermum australie (the Moreton Bay chestnut) grows to a height of 10 metres. It is an evergreen tree and its clusters are very pretty yellow and orange flowers that appear in mid-summer, even along the stems.

There is a fine specimen at the back of the rehab department at the Tamworth Base Hospital. The seeds are poisonous to cattle and horses which, after eating, lose condition.

Datura (angel's trumpet) formerly known as Brugmansia, has white, trumpet-shaped flowers which hang down. It is now hard to obtain.

When I visited the Fragrant Gardens at Erina some time ago, there was a beautiful orange variety growing there. Any part of the this plant, especially the flowers, can cause delirium and death.

Growing in the bush around Tamworth and along the Peel River, a small shrub about 1.5 metres tall with a small yellow flower which develops into a small back berry can be seen.

This plant is the Cestrum parqui, a native to Chile. It is cultivated as a garden plant in the higher rainfall areas of Australia. Cattle have been poisoned from eating this bush.

While most climbers are attractive, the roots and flowers of the pretty Carolina jasmine are toxic.

Other poisonous plants include the arum lily, the leaves and buds of azaleas, the sap of the belladona lily, the berries of the cottoneaster, sap and bulbs of daffodils, all parts of delphiniums, fruits of the lantana camara, seeds of lupins and morning glory, pointsettia latex and seeds, primula leaves, fruit of privets, roots and leaves of violets and all parts of wisteria.

Bye for this month and happy gardening.