Planting flowers around your home is a fun way to celebrate the spring season, but be careful with these popular plants if you have pets.

Bright Colorful Spring Flowers

I don't know if it's the warm weather, the sunshine, or the fact that my head is kind of fuzzy from the pollen count, but when spring is here, all I want to do is buy plants for my landscaping. Since my landscaping is in my front yard, my dog doesn't have access to it, so I can be a little more loose with what I plant there. However, I do try to watch what I plant in my front yard on the off chance a neighbor's pet were to get out, I don't want them to get hurt.

Photo by marieke koenders on Unsplash

Beautiful, But Potentially Deadly

When looking up what plants were safe for pets, I was shocked to learn just how many popular plants were not safe for pets. For instance, did you know that tulips are toxic to dogs? Well, not the flower itself, but the bulb of the tulip has a skin on it that is toxic to dogs if they eat it, the bulb is also an obstruction risk. This is apparently common with many types of plant bulbs. Who knew?

Photo by Smiljana Peters on Unsplash

So, if your pet is a digger, you may want to skip on those types of plants. However, if your dog is old and lazy like mine, tulips may not be that big of an issue for you. Either way, I'm not going to plant any tulips in my backyard where my dog would have access to them.

What Other Popular Plants are Toxic to Pets?

Photo by Melissa Keizer on Unsplash

According to Rutherford Veterinary Hospital, you should steer clear of the following plants if you have pets:

Azaleas
Lily of the Valley
Daffodils
Foxglove
Rhododendron
Hyacinths
Oleander
Autumn Crocus

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Each of these plants can cause some pretty severe symptoms in pets, from upset stomachs to heart failure. Rutherford Veterinary Hospital has an in-depth explanation for each plant and what makes it toxic to pets; you can read that here. The ASPCA also lists fertilizer and cocoa mulch as two popular landscaping items to be very careful with due to potential toxicity to pets. If you want to see a comprehensive list of plants that are safe and plants that are not safe for your pets, the ASPCA has a list of hundreds of plants here.