Dirt By Amy Stewart

Poisonous Plants on the Playground

photo credit here.

Nice.  According to this news report, a toddler in Florida was out on the playground when a teacher noticed he'd put something in his mouth. It was a rosary pea seed (Abrus precatorius), which contains the deadly toxin, abrin--a poison similar to ricin.  Fortunately, the seed has a hard shell and the boy hadn't chewed it.  So he was  OK. 

But really--these pretty little seeds, shiny and red like candy, are growing on or near a playground?  The fact is that most of us just don't think about the surprising power of the plants all around us.

You're going to be hearing a lot more of this from me over the next few months as I get ready for Wicked Plants' publication.  I've been following these news stories for a few years; now I'll share them with you, and you'll see how common these dangerous run-ins with plants really are!

Ready For My Close-Up

On most days, the only way I get through my life is by reminding myself that it's okay to have very relaxed standards about pretty much everything. The whole house needs to be vacuumed, but it's not as if Good Housekeeping is coming over to do an inspection later this afternoon, and besides, nobody ever died wishing they'd spent more time running the vacuum cleaner. So that can wait.

I spend my days in grubby jeans and oversized sweatshirts that conceal several layers of T-shirts and, on some days, flannel pajamas, but then again, Vanity Fair is not likely to show up around lunchtime for a portrait. So I'm okay for another day.

Naturally, I use this approach in the garden as well. The oxalis and wild onions are coming up as they do every winter; several overgrown shrubs are in desperate need of a good whacking; and the latest round of transplanting and dividing has been postponed because we haven't had the rain that makes transplanting such an easy job. (Not that I'm complaining about the sunshine. Oh, no.) But who cares? It's not as if Sunset is sending a photographer over.

Except they are. This week.

My garden library

Amazon interviewed me about my garden library for their blog--check it out here.

The Garden of 2009

January never really feels like the beginning of the year to me. September, with its end-of-summer, back-to-school vibe, is the time of year that makes me feel like I’m starting over. January just feels like more of the same: more cold, more wet, more long, dark nights.

But I can’t help but look ahead and think about what I want to do differently in the garden this year. And I’m not afraid to call them resolutions. Everyone I know has become resolution-wary; when I ask them what their New Years resolutions are, they laugh and back away, saying, “Oh, no. I don’t do resolutions.” But really, what’s wrong with resolve? What’s the problem with making your intentions known? Are we really that afraid of commitment? Is there some penalty for not following through on a resolution that I haven’t been warned about?

So with all the resolve I can muster, here’s what I intend to do in the garden this year:

Wicked Plants: The Trailer

There will be much more news about my new book in the next few weeks.   But let's begin with:  the video!  My oh-so-clever brother (who is off to Sundance with the latest film he edited) planned, directed, shot, and edited this over the summer.  We used the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery for the shoot--a wonderful old spooky graveyard.  You'll also get to meet the neighbor's dog, my adorable nephew, and the feet of my lovely sister-in-law.  And if you want to read more about the making of this video, go here.

Enjoy!

Visitors to the garden

I was headed outside today with the intention of cutting down the overgrown verbena bonariensis, which was looking quite brown and dull now that it's truly winter.  But there were three bright yellow finches--at least, I think they were finches--perched on the wiry stems, picking seeds out of the flowers.  So the tall purple verbena stays.

I couldn't get too close without scaring them off, but here are some highly cropped photos.