Golden, thanks for posting this warning! Diffenbacia (dumb cane), philodendron are a couple of common house plants that are toxic. Pencil cactus, & so many more! I love my 2 different species of elephant ears, but they are way down back where the grandkids are never unsupervised. Same with my houseplants, I have some toxic ones, and just try to make sure the kids are never unattended around them. And I try to keep them where they're not easily attainable by them. Anyhow ... I always wear gloves when gardening. Always! (for 30+ years now) And I've never gotten poison oak or ivy rashes or anything like that. Good fitting leather gloves are best. They last for years, and are like a true second skin. Worth the investment. They have kept my hands from getting cut or injured outside so many times. Be safe and don't be eating or handling any plants that you're not sure about, and watch the kids & pets! Take precautions by using clothing and gloves when handling. Watch out rubbing your eyes, etc after handing them too. Always wash up really good after playing in the dirt! Now as for bugs flying into your mouth outside ... yep stuff like that can happen! I've got a friend who had a bug fly into his ear when we were sitting around a swimming pool outside one night ... it's funny to think of him stomping the floor board in the car everytime the bug would move in his ear when we were on the way to the hospital LOL! but I'm sure he didn't think it was funny at all! Awww, sweet memories lol ~tenderlee :-)

I can't use tap water because of water softener. I have RO under the sink, but it only holds 3 gallons which takes about an hour to refill. I can't wash my plants at all during winter. Painters finally finished Friday and I spent the weekend moving them out of the dark, dry basement. Some are really infested, all have scale except the Phals (go figure?). I did major alcohol washing, scraping. After cleaning the worse ones, I sprinkled Bayer Shrub and tree systemic. The label states it can be used for container plants, water outside and bring inside after they drain. It was 29 degrees outside. I sprinkled, stuck them outside the door, poured water and grabbed them back inside. Heaven knows if it will work or poison the entire family. It was either that or to the trash with them. Howards Dream (a huge plant) and my unknown nobile both froze solid. They are mush now, but strangely the roots look like they might be alive. Howard's Dream had bulbs 10" wide. I was planning to sell it. So much for that, I trashed it. The nobile I will hold for a while to see if anything pops up. I doubt it but I have sentimental feelings for this plant and I would like to see if anything grows. It was a large keiki taken from a huge plant which grew along the roof of a greenhouse. The owner was a sweet gentleman who passed away this year. I have it 3 years and it made such growth this summer, I knew I'd have flowers. All the canes are mush. I'd be tempted to try the Raid in the bag treatment, but my feeling is they would all have to be done and there are just too many plants. I'll try the cinnamon treatment. Jane

Loretta, I have 4 siam ruby reds, that I left outside thruout the winter. I covered them in February when we had the 2 weeks of freezing weather. I covered them with a sheet and bungie cord, with 4 inches of mulch. All 4 made it thru the freezes. The one that I planted on the South side of the house, did not even freeze back, it is doing great, its about 4ft tall, and has pups. The 2 I planted on the East side, did not freeze back to the ground, but did have to be cut back, they are about 2 ft tall right now, no pups. The one I planted on the North side froze back to the ground, it is slowly coming back. I did not know where to plant them, so I planted them on diffrent sides, the one on the south side, seemed to multiply much faster then the other 3. I have a sprinkler system, so they were watered every other day, even when it froze. This is zone 9b coastal, Rockport Texas. I hope this information helps you. Barbra

There's lots of different kinds of 'elephant ears', and some are almost impossible to kill while others are kinda on the finicky side. With any plant, so far as I know, when leaves go bad it's a good idea to cut them off. I don't know if it's true, but somebody told me a long time ago that the plants actually waste energy trying to heal the bad leaves and they can't. In any case, I think it's best to take them off. I have one that needs water so much that if it even goes a few hours without water in the basin the pot sits in it'll get bad leaves, and I cut 'em off regularly. It's really thirsty! Some others will get damaged leaves if they get too much water, so it's helpful to have an idea of what you have.