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From: Buda, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Poisonous Plants
Title: Drought-tolerant plants that are non-toxic to dogs
Answered by: Nan Hampton
You have made some excellent choices with:
Melampodium leucanthum (plains blackfoot)
Wedelia texana (Texas creeping oxeye)
Nolina texana (Texas sacahuista)
Hesperaloe parviflora (redflower false yucca)
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Prairie verbena)
Hibiscus martianus (heartleaf rosemallow)
Salvia farinacea (mealycup sage)
Here are some more possibilities:
Oenothera macrocarpa ssp. macrocarpa (bigfruit evening-primrose)
Tetraneuris scaposa var. scaposa (stemmy four-nerve daisy)
Chrysactinia mexicana (damianita)
Dalea frutescens (black prairie clover)
Pavonia lasiopetala (Texas swampmallow)
Salvia coccinea (blood sage) is listed specifically on the ASPCA list as non-toxic.
There are several databases to consult for plant toxicity. The ASPCA has a list specific to dogs, Toxic and Non-toxic Plant List—Dogs. There are several others that we use, as well:
Poisonous Plants of North Carolina
Cornell University Plants Poisonous to Livestock
University of Pennsylvania Poisonous Plants
Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System
On the ASPCA list I found these plants: 1) Yucca spp. are on the list indicating that all species of Yucca should be avoided around dogs. 2) Hibiscus syriacus (a non-native) is on the list, but not the native one you chose, H. martianus. None of the other databases listed any members of these genera as being toxic so you will have to use your own judgement as to whether or not to plant the yucca or the hibiscus. Only one database, Toxic Plants of Texas, had a species of Salvia listed and that was Salvia reflexa (lanceleaf sage), a sage that grows in western Texas. Of course, just because a plant doesn't appear on any of the databases isn't a guarantee that it might not be slightly toxic to your puppy, but it does make it more likely that the puppy won't become ill from eating or chewing on a small amount of the plant.
You can check the Texas—Central Recommended list for other possibilities and check them against the toxic plant databases listed above. It's best to use the botanical name for checking the toxicity since the botanical name is more consistently reliable than the common name.
Here are photos from our Image Gallery of the new ones I have suggested:
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September 24, 2010 - I am looking for horse friendly plants, i.e., shrubs, trees, bushes, etc. that can be planted in wet area in Ohio. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
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April 10, 2013 - Mr. Smarty Plants,
I have seen several questions on Red Tip Photinia (RTP) concerning toxicity to horses, dogs and children. We recently lost over 100 gold fish and 6 large KOI in our man made back ...
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October 27, 2004 - Hi Mr. Smarty Plants,
I wonder who among the wonderful staff at the Wildflower Center can answer this. I occasionally get requests for information on toxic or irritating plants. Beyond the obvious ...
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July 20, 2009 - My Boston Terrier always goes to our carrotwood tree and licks the base. He gets so excited that he drools all over the place? Why does this tree cause this reaction in our dog? Is it poisonous to ...
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