POISONOUS BRUGMANSIA + CURIOUS DOGS = GEORGIA O'KEEFE
When my neighbor Maurice gave me this plant 3 weeks, ago, there was nothing but leaves on it... It had flowered for him all summer, but he didn't feel like over-wintering it, so home it came with me. When we came back from the West Coast a few days ago, this amazing spectacle was waiting for me... I guess it had one last go at it before packing it in! Unfortunately, this all happened after we decided to get rid of the poor thing, because its very existence was threatening the health of more important creatures, our animals. I thought I could pull it off, making sure the dogs and cats didn't get too close, but I found a couple of chewed up leaves this morning in the living room. Then Tim's stomach started to make surreal noises... Brugmansia can cause temporary paralysis, hallucinations, or death if you ingest too much of it (and our dogs ingest anything and everything...). Shamans in Central America call it Jimson Weed, and use it in their rituals... No such fun for our guys.
So there, the toxic beauties were transformed into translucent arrangements that afterwards reminded me of one of my favorite painters, Georgia O'Keefe.
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