Holiday plants best for looking pretty, not eating

University of Georgia horticulturalist Paul Thomas can’t think of any common gift plants that are necessarily poisonous -- most of the poisonous plants are those cut for Christmas decorations. He can, however, think of one that will light a child’s or pet’s mouth on fire.

Ornamental peppers sold around the holidays come in merry white and Christmas red. And these, he said, are usually bred from some of the hottest peppers on the market.

“They can be, and often are, flaming, wish-you-were-dead hot,” Thomas said.

Peppers can add interest to a table or garden area. But, anyone who has children should purchase them with caution.

“Keep in mind, if you decided to go with ornamental peppers, that they’re not going to kill a child, but you’re going to have a very unhappy baby or child if they eat them,” Thomas said. “They’re not going to understand they bit into a hot pepper. They’re just going to panic.”

The best solution, as with any plant, is to keep them out of the reach of children.

Poisonous plants

Parents and others who may have children over for the holidays should watch out for a few plants commonly used as decoration that are poisonous. These include amaryllis, calla lilies, English ivy, mistletoe, holly, juniper, lantana and yew, according to the UGA Extension publication “Poisonous Plants in the Landscape”.

Poisonous parts include:
• Amaryllis – the bulbs and seeds
• Calla lily – all parts
• English ivy – leaves, stem and fruit
• Holly – berries
• Juniper – berry-like seeds
• Lantana – fruit
• Mistletoe – berries
• Yew – berries and foliage

“The term poisonous does not imply that the plant is fatal,” said Gary Wade, a UGA Extension horticulturist. “Some plants may be only mildly toxic and may cause stomach ache or mild irritation of the mouth and throat when ingested.”

Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to poison, he said. Keep an eye on what children, especially babies, are chewing on, and keep them away from plants.

In case of a poison emergency or to get poison information, always keep the Georgia Poison Center number near your telephone. They can be contacted at (800) 222-1222 or (404) 616-9000. For general information, visit their Web site at www.georgiapoisoncenter.org.

If a poisoning occurs and the person is having trouble breathing, experiencing seizures or won’t wake up, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Pretty poinsettias

Poinsettias, despite their reputation, aren’t poisonous, Thomas said.

“They won’t even make a cat, dog or a child sick if they do eat a leaf or get sap on their skin,” Thomas said.

Some people will itch when they come in contact with poinsettias. This is because they’re having an allergic reaction to the latex found in the plants.

Poinsettia sap can be irritating if it gets in the eyes or on sensitive skin. If this happens, wash the affected area immediately with water.

By Stephanie Schupska
University of Georgia

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Is your Christmas Tree making You Ill

TT Note: There's no doubt live trees in the house can aggravate allergies and asthma. The allergists in Fayette County recommend no live trees for homes whose occupants have allergies. Washing down the artificial tree as an attempt to lesson mold spores is a great idea.

24-7-- Could it be your Christmas tree that's making you sick? Recent studies tend to support that theory. It seems that Christmas trees, either real or artificial can be a source of mold or allergens that can be the cause of those "sniffles" you seem to have at this time of the year.

In a recent study, mold spores in an apartment had a normal range of 500-700 spores per cubic meter. When the Christmas tree was added, the spores measured about 800 spores per cubic meter of air for the first three days. By day 14 the spores count had increased to 5,000 spores per cubic meter. If you have asthma or are prone to sinus infections you are likely to have a problem. The longer you leave the tree up the worse the contamination.

An artificial tree, stored in the attic or basement for a year can pose many of the same problems. It can acquire pollens, dust or mold. Taking the tree outdoors and washing it down can help. But that isn't always possible due to cold temperatures of the season.

Minnesota based WorldWide Oxide markets and EPA approved GREEN mold preventer Vital Oxide. Vital Oxide is totally safe, is odorless, and contains no harmful VOC's states company spokesman Tom Heller. Simply spray Vital Oxide onto the tree every few days during the season, and the mold or allergen problem will not be a factor in your home states Heller. Because Vital Oxide is odorless, you will not have to worry about some cover-up scent destroying your Christmas ambiance.

For more information on the studies visit the WorldWide Oxide web site at http://www.worldwideoxide.com.

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Amazon.com Update

Well, been "communicating" with Amazon.com. They send an email saying their sorry, will I give them another chance. I send one back saying nope. They send one saying will I give them another chance.

So far I've had an email from Prakash, Monica, Subhrajit, and Vipin Sai. I will say that the first paragraph shows they kinda-sorta read part of my email. Kinda-sorta. The rest is canned.

I finally told 'em I didn't want anymore canned emails, not to bother to respond. I received a response saying (again) that they were truly sorry, they hoped I'd give them a second chance, but if I wanted to write anything else it needed to go to their general questions complaint site.

Hmmm... do ya think they're tired of me answering their canned responses?

There's a perverse part of my nature that thinks I could keep this going until they got tired of hearing from me.... How long would it be before they blocked my email? Closed my account?

I'm heading over to the site now to see if there's some way to cancel it myself. I'm tired of playing and they're obviously not very interested in one little peon customer. Oh, I guess I shouldn't say that, they want me to give them one more chance, give them one more chance, give them one more chance, give them one more chance...

Hard lesson learned re: Amazon

My husband has surgery earlier this month and was still unable to be left alone for long periods of time. I have shopped on-line before, love having packages just show up on my front porch. When Greg's daughter-in-law sent a list for the grandkids with the suggestion that I shop on Amazon I thought it was a GREAT idea!

I popped over, found the things we wanted and ordered. Voila, done without any hassle. They guaranteed arrival before Christmas, we had 8 full days so there was a fudge factor allowance in case there was a glitch.

One of the books arrived on the 20th. Checked email and found a note saying that they'd split the shipment, the rest would arrive by the 24th. Cutting it close as that's Christmas Eve and that's when the grandkids were coming, but they promised.

On the 22nd I called as it hadn't arrived. On-line tracker showed only that the carrier had been notified to pick up. I was starting to do a mini-panic.

The person I talked to (from India I believe based on accent), was rather abrupt. He said they were getting a lot of calls and that my shipment was like everyone else's and it would arrive by Christmas. The carriers were very busy and they were not all scanning the items thus it was not showing on their tracker that it been picked up but it would arrive. Basically he said I was wasting his time calling. Frustrating as it seemed he didn't even bother to check anything, just spouted his standard lines.

Christmas eve day... no packages. But the mail was running behind, we saw trucks zipping up and down the road delivering packages and knew they worked late to make sure the packages arrived.

The kids came. The kids left. No Christmas presents from Amazon. The grandkids were so good about it (probably because the parents had warned them on the way over that their Christmas presents might not have made it to our doorstep). Disappointed but good. I was so frustrated. We must have sneaked outside 20 times to see if maybe the packages had been delivered.

What a rip. That is the last time I will order presents on-line from Amazon. I know that only allowing a week for delivery at Christmas is a risky proposition. However, I think if when I called their so-called help line someone should have done some cursory checking. It they had followed up, the presents would have been found and delivered. I used to manage an area where we dealt with similar situations. I am well aware of what COULD have been done.

I'm not giving up on ordering on-line. I just won't be shopping Amazon anymore. If it hadn't been for my recovering husband, I wouldn't have allowed Christmas to sneak up so quickly. I'll know in the future to shop earlier...

I sent Amazon an email, not yelling, not nasty, but definitely to the point, regarding the shipment. It's been 12 hours. I haven't heard back from them yet. They're going further and further in the dog house with me.