Green Hellebore may cause hallucinations for the writer’s character, especially if they are a witch! — Hellebores have many colors and textures and are one of the first to poke out from the snow. Therefore, they are the stars of the late winter and early spring garden. Hellebores are in the Ranunculus or buttercup family. These little beauties are often found in the mountains and on…

Many have confused it with wild onions or leeks. — Death Camus is a plant from the veratrum species. This plant is part of the Zigadenus species and has numerous alkaloids, including zydgadenine and zycacine. This plant is often mistaken for either wild onion or a leek growing in the wild. All parts of Death Camas are poisonous. Dried parts…

This is one of those times where it is better not to chew your food. — The castor bean is planted and harvested around the world. Every part of this plant contains the toxalbumin ricin. Toxicity varies with growing conditions and origin, but all can cause toxicity and potentially be fatal. These plants are often grown due to their ornamental look. The plant is usually turned…

Despite the folklore, stay away from these enticing plants. — The pokeweed is a herbaceous, shrub-like plant that self-seeds easily. It is found throughout Eastern North America, from Ontario to Maine to Florida, west to Texas, and north to Wisconsin. We see it now in the western states as well. The berry starts as a white flower and develops into…

Some Plants Change the Way You Look at Things. — The Brugmansia suaveolens is a stunning plant. The flowers are large, pendulous, up to 20 inches tall, and fragrant, attracting moths and hummingbirds. This flower has various colors such as green, pink, red, orange, yellow, and cream. Despite this it’s beauty, you must understand that it's poisonous to animals and…

Let’s look at the Monkshood. This herbaceous wildflower grows in mountain meadows throughout the northern hemisphere. The posterior sepal of the flower resembles the cowls worn by monks, hence the name. Another name for monkshood is Wolfsbane. It gets it’s name for being the poison used to kill carnivores such…

Let's start with the Autumn Crocus. — I thought I would start with a very toxic plant that could easily cause fatalities. It happens to be a beautiful plant that flowers in the autumn. Hence the name Autumn Crocus. Do not confuse it with the spring crocus, which doesn’t cause concerns. This plant contains a plant alkaloid…

Choose your plants carefully! — This morning I’m sitting down to start my BYOB project. It refers to Built Your Own Book. Shaunta Grimes, head of Ninja Writers, developed this program for the ninja writers. It’s a four-month program. In the first month, we decide what we will write about. We determine which titles and…

I’ve got a lot to do, and I’d better apply what I learned. — Being dyslexic does not help my organizational skills. It’s not enough to really impact my life, but enough that I have trouble with organization. I’ve been decluttering and trying a minimalistic lifestyle for the last two years. If I only have so many things in my place, it’s easy to…