Oleander, Very Dangerous - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

We were roaming Planting Fields Arboretum last May where we came across this potted plant with just a tiny little warning sign stuck into the soil:

From:

https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/trees-and-shrubs/oleander-is-a-dangerous-beauty

"How can some of the most beautiful plants be so toxic? Take oleander—that wonderfully large shrub that, despite high winds and salt spray along our coastlines, somehow manages to produce clusters of gorgeous blooms in summer in white, yellow, peach, salmon, pink or red. And yet oleander is considered one of the most poisonous plants in the world.  All parts of this gracefully mounded shrub contain poison; a single leaf ingested by a child is known to be deadly. "

I'd heard of the name "oleander" in the same way I'd heard of other plants, but I had no idea that oleander is so dangerous. Unfortunately and astonishingly, this toxic plant had been placed in an open courtyard surrounded by all kinds of other presumably harmless plants where I can imagine innocent passersby and young children coming into contact with it.

I have sent an e-mail to call attention to this dangerous situation but the general warning I offer to everyone is don't touch any plant you may not be familiar with.

You never know.