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Garden plants toxic to dogs

Every garden plant in the planner rated toxic to dogs, the most dangerous first, from ASPCA and NC State records.

Dogs eat plants more than cats do, and dig up bulbs, which is where several of the worst poisons are kept: daffodil, tulip and hyacinth bulbs are far more toxic than their leaves. Foxglove and lily of the valley affect the heart, and yew is one of the most poisonous plants in any garden.

This list is drawn from the ASPCA's lists and NC State's toxicity ratings; where the two disagree, the more cautious rating is used. In the planner, the Plants tab can show only non-toxic plants, and any plant unticked there is left off the plan.

429 plants: 229 perennials, 1 fern, 78 bulbs and 121 shrubs.

The ones most often planted

  • Mountain laurel

    Mountain laurel

    8 ft · late May to late June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    A native evergreen with crimped, sugar-icing buds that open into cup-shaped flowers of white, pink or red in late spring, in clusters that cover the plant.

  • Delphinium

    Delphinium

    5 ft · late June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    The great blue spire of the English border: dense columns of flowers up to head height in early summer.

  • Garden chrysanthemum

    Garden chrysanthemum

    24 in · mid September to late October · mild, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    The florist's mum: dense domes of daisies, pompoms or buttons in every autumn colour.

  • Oakleaf hydrangea

    Oakleaf hydrangea

    6½ ft · mid June to early August · mild, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    A native shrub for every season: cone-shaped white flowers that age to pink, huge oak-shaped leaves that turn wine red and purple in autumn, and peeling, cinnamon-coloured bark in winter.

  • Foxglove

    Foxglove

    4 ft · early June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    Tall spires of spotted, bell-shaped flowers bring height to part-shade beds in early summer.

  • Oriental poppy

    Oriental poppy

    2½ ft · late May to late June · mild, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    Enormous, crepe-paper flowers in scarlet, orange, pink or white, usually with a black blotch at the base, in early summer.

  • Calla lily

    Calla lily

    2½ ft · mid May to mid July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    Pure white, funnel-shaped flowers of great elegance, each wrapped around a yellow spike, above glossy, arrow-shaped leaves.

  • Hyacinth

    Hyacinth

    10 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    Dense, waxy spikes of intensely fragrant flowers in blue, purple, pink, white or soft yellow, in mid-spring.

  • Caladium

    Caladium

    20 in · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    Paper-thin, heart-shaped leaves in mixtures of white, pink, red and green, veined and splashed, from early summer until the first cool nights.

  • Oleander

    Oleander

    10 ft · mid June to early October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses

    A large evergreen with narrow, leathery leaves and clusters of pink, red or white flowers from early summer to autumn.

  • Winterberry

    Winterberry

    8 ft · grown for its leaves · mild, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant

    A native holly that drops its leaves in autumn to show branches packed with bright red berries, which last into winter until the birds take them.

  • Snowdrop

    Snowdrop

    6 in · early March to late March · mild, to people, dogs and cats

    Nodding white bells that push up through the last of the snow, weeks before anything else.

All 429 plants

Show all 429, by how toxic they are

Severe 71

  • Autumn monkshood 4 ft · mid September to mid October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Azalea 'Delaware Valley White' 4 ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Azalea 'Hino-Crimson' 3 ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bicolor monkshood 4 ft · mid July to late August · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bloodroot 8 in · late March to mid April · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bog rosemary 'Blue Ice' 16 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bugbane 'Hillside Black Beauty' 5 ft · late August to early October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Catawba rhododendron 8 ft · late May to mid June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Cherry laurel 'Otto Luyken' 3½ ft · late April to mid May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Chinese delphinium 'Blue Butterfly' 16 in · late June to late August · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Colchicum 'Waterlily' 6 in · mid September to mid October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daphne 'Carol Mackie' 3½ ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance' 2½ ft · early May to early October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Delphinium 5 ft · late June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Delphinium Magic Fountains 3 ft · late June to late July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Delphinium Pacific Giants 6 ft · late June to late July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Doll's eyes 2½ ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Drooping leucothoe 4 ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Drooping leucothoe 'Rainbow' 4 ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Dwarf Japanese yew 4 ft · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • English bluebell 12 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Evergreen azalea 4 ft · mid April to mid May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Flame azalea 8 ft · mid May to mid June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Foxglove 4 ft · early June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Foxglove 'Dalmatian Purple' 3½ ft · late May to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Heavenly bamboo 6 ft · late May to late June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Hicks yew 11½ ft · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Irish yew 13 ft · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Italian arum 16 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Japanese pieris 8 ft · late March to late April · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Korean rhododendron 'Cornell Pink' 6½ ft · late March to mid April · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Lily of the valley 8 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Mayapple 16 in · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Meadow saffron 6 in · mid September to mid October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Monkshood 4 ft · mid July to mid August · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Mountain laurel 8 ft · late May to late June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Mountain laurel 'Elf' 3 ft · late May to late June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Mountain laurel 'Olympic Fire' 6½ ft · late May to late June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Nandina 'Firepower' 24 in · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Northern Lights azalea 5 ft · mid May to early June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Oleander 10 ft · mid June to early October · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pieris 'Cavatine' 2½ ft · early April to early May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pieris 'Little Heath' 2½ ft · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pieris 'Mountain Fire' 6½ ft · late March to late April · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pink lily of the valley 8 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pinxterbloom azalea 6 ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Reblooming azalea 3½ ft · mid April to mid May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Red baneberry 24 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rhododendron 'Cunningham's White' 5 ft · mid May to early June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rhododendron 'Nova Zembla' 6½ ft · late May to mid June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rhododendron 'Olga Mezitt' 5 ft · late April to early May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rhododendron 'PJM' 5 ft · late April to mid May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rhododendron 'Purple Gem' 24 in · late April to early May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rhododendron 'Roseum Elegans' 8 ft · late May to mid June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rosebay rhododendron 15 ft · late June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Royal azalea 6½ ft · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Rusty foxglove 5 ft · late June to early August · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Schip laurel 10 ft · late April to early May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Siberian squill 5 in · late March to mid April · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Spanish bluebell 16 in · early May to late May · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Spreading English yew 3 ft · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Spreading yew 'Densiformis' 4 ft · grown for its leaves · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Straw foxglove 2½ ft · mid June to late July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Strawberry foxglove 3 ft · early June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Swamp azalea 6½ ft · late June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Tall larkspur 5 ft · mid July to late August · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Whorled milkweed 24 in · late June to late August · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Winter aconite 4 in · late February to mid March · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Winter daphne 4 ft · early February to late March · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Yak rhododendron 3½ ft · mid May to early June · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Yellow foxglove 2½ ft · early June to mid July · severe, to people, dogs, cats and horses

Moderate 120

  • Aaron's beard 14 in · late June to late August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Allium 'Ambassador' 4 ft · early June to early July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Allium 'Gladiator' 4 ft · late May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Allium 'Globemaster' 3 ft · late May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Allium 'Mount Everest' 3½ ft · late May to mid June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • American elderberry 10 ft · mid June to mid July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bleeding heart 2½ ft · early May to early June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bleeding heart 'Gold Heart' 2½ ft · early May to early June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bleeding heart 'King of Hearts' 12 in · early May to early September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bleeding heart 'Luxuriant' 16 in · early May to early September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Blue allium 20 in · early June to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bottlebrush buckeye 10 ft · late June to late July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bouncing Bet 24 in · late June to early September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Boxwood 'Green Gem' 24 in · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Boxwood 'Green Mountain' 5 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Boxwood 'Green Velvet' 3 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Bugbane 'Brunette' 5 ft · early September to early October · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Burning bush 11½ ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Butterfly weed 24 in · late June to early August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Buttonbush 6½ ft · late June to early August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Caladium 20 in · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Calla lily 2½ ft · mid May to mid July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Cardinal flower 3½ ft · late July to mid September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Cardinal flower 'Queen Victoria' 3½ ft · late July to mid September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Carolina allspice 8 ft · early May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Chives 14 in · mid May to mid June · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Christmas rose 12 in · late February to early April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Christmas rose 'Jacob' 10 in · late November to late December · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Comfrey 'Hidcote Blue' 18 in · late April to late May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Common boxwood 10 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Common milkweed 4 ft · late June to early August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Corsican hellebore 2½ ft · late February to late April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Curly onion 10 in · late July to early September · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Cypress spurge 12 in · early May to early June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 16 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 'Dutch Master' 18 in · early April to late April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 'February Gold' 12 in · mid March to early April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 'Ice Follies' 16 in · early April to late April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 'Jetfire' 10 in · late March to mid April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 'Tete-a-Tete' 7 in · late March to mid April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Daffodil 'Thalia' 14 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Darwin hybrid tulip 24 in · late April to mid May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Donkey-tail spurge 6 in · early April to mid May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Drumstick allium 2½ ft · late June to late July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Dwarf English boxwood 2½ ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Dwarf flowering almond 4½ ft · late April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Elderberry 'Black Beauty' 8 ft · early June to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Elderberry 'Black Lace' 6½ ft · early June to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Elderberry 'Lemony Lace' 5 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Elephant ear 5 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Florida anise 8 ft · mid April to mid May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Garlic chives 20 in · late August to mid September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Giant allium 5 ft · early June to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Glory-of-the-snow 6 in · late March to mid April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Golden garlic 12 in · late May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Golden Japanese euonymus 6 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' 3 ft · late June to late July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Greigii tulip 10 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Ground clematis 'Purpurea' 5 ft · early June to mid July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Hardy cyclamen 5 in · late August to mid October · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Hellebore 'Ivory Prince' 16 in · early March to late April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Hellebore 'Pink Frost' 16 in · late February to mid April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Hyacinth 10 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' 10 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Jack-in-the-pulpit 18 in · early May to late May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Japanese anemone 'September Charm' 3 ft · mid August to early October · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Japanese onion 'Ozawa' 10 in · early October to early November · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Japanese skimmia 3½ ft · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Jonquil 12 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Kalm's St John's wort 3 ft · early July to early August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Korean boxwood 'Wintergreen' 3½ ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Lady tulip 12 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Lantana 3 ft · late May to mid October · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Lenten rose 18 in · late March to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Littleleaf boxwood 'Winter Gem' 4 ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Nodding onion 18 in · early July to early August · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Ornamental onion 'Millenium' 18 in · mid July to late August · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' 2½ ft · late May to early June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' 20 in · early July to early August · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Ornamental rhubarb 6 ft · late May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pasque flower 10 in · early April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Pink lily leek 6 in · late May to mid June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Plume poppy 7 ft · early July to mid August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Poet's daffodil 16 in · early May to late May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Purple leaf sand cherry 8 ft · late April to early May · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Purple lobelia 3½ ft · mid July to mid September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Purple milkweed 3 ft · early June to mid July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Schubert's allium 20 in · late May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Showy milkweed 3½ ft · mid June to late July · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Sicilian honey garlic 3½ ft · late May to mid June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Sneezeweed 4 ft · early August to late September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Sneezeweed 'Mardi Gras' 3 ft · early July to early September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Sneezeweed 'Moerheim Beauty' 3 ft · mid July to early September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Sneezeweed 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' 3 ft · late June to early October · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Solitary clematis 24 in · mid June to early August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Spreading plum yew 2½ ft · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Spring snowflake 10 in · early March to late March · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • St John's wort 'Hidcote' 3½ ft · late June to mid September · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Star of Persia 20 in · late May to late June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Stinking hellebore 24 in · late February to mid April · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Swamp milkweed 4 ft · early July to early August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' 3½ ft · early July to mid August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses · host plant
  • Sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' 6½ ft · late May to late August · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Tarda tulip 5 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 18 in · late April to mid May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Angelique' 18 in · early May to late May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Apeldoorn' 22 in · late April to early May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Ballerina' 22 in · early May to mid May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Fusilier' 12 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Lilac Wonder' 7 in · mid April to early May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Purissima' 16 in · mid April to late April · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Queen of Night' 24 in · early May to late May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Tulip 'Spring Green' 18 in · early May to late May · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Turkestan onion 10 in · mid May to early June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Turkestan tulip 10 in · late March to mid April · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • Waterlily tulip 8 in · late March to mid April · moderate, to dogs, cats and horses
  • White bleeding heart 2½ ft · early May to early June · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Winter cyclamen 3 in · early February to late March · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Wintercreeper 16 in · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses
  • Wintercreeper 'Emerald 'n' Gold' 20 in · grown for its leaves · moderate, to people, dogs, cats and horses

Mild 238

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