For Sale (and a Warning to Pet Owners!): Two Sago Palms

I considered posting this in the Scavenger section, but then decided it might be better to expand upon why I'm putting up my two sago palms up for sale. Yesterday, Nan got a stung by a bee on her muzzle and half her face ballooned up. During a trip to the pet emergency room (TLC 24-Hour pet ER), the vet told me, "It's not so much bee stings and spider bites you should worry about, it's more about the plants you have in your backyard."

Turns out, I happen to have two sago palms in my backyard from the previous owner. One is HUGE, and the other is medium sized. Sago palms aren't technically palms despite their appearance: they're conifers and they are one of the few surviving plants of the prehistoric dinosaur age. They do extremely well in LA as you care for them like a cactus: very little watering, a lot of sun, little to no fertilization, and a high tolerance of neglect (if you have a black thumb like me).

My vet advised me to get rid of the plants immediately as ingesting a sago palm seed will cause liver failure. "Put em up for sale," she advised, "They're valuable plants, some big ones run up in the hundreds. Some people will even offer to come to your house and remove it themselves!"

So: if any of you AT readers don't have pets and want an exotic plant (or two) on the cheap side, drop me an email at grace@apartmenttherapy.com. If you DO have pets, make sure that your plants aren't on this list from the ASPCA! I'm on high alert right now with Nan as I did catch her chewing on a branch last week...

Update: The sago palms are gone!

I'm really glad you posted this! I have two kitties who just spent two nights in the kitty ICU because I had easter lillies in a bouquet. I now have a blanket plant ban in my house.

posted by mally313 on April 11th 2008 at 8:51am
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ack, Easter lillies are just about the worst thing for a cat!

a Blanket plant ban isn't totally necessary though - the ASPCA also has a list of SAFE plants for pets that I look at all the time. I make sure my weekly cure flowers are on there and any new plants I buy are researched thoroughly before bringing them home. You just have to be careful :)

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_nontoxicplants

posted by suziegoombs on April 11th 2008 at 8:57am
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This is such a great post, and just in time for all of our spring gardening projects. Thanks for putting your pets' safety first, Grace!

posted by firecracker on April 11th 2008 at 10:08am
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So glad that you posted this. I recently moved into a house with one of these palms in the yard and I had no idea that it could kill my dogs! That tree is getting chopped down this weekend!!!

posted by P.T. on April 11th 2008 at 11:31am
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I hope you don't chop down the tree...I'm sure you could uproot it and someone will gladly take it for you.

posted by hazel8 on April 11th 2008 at 11:57am
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Too much work to uproot it, it is rather large. Much larger than the ones in the photo above. It would probably take real excavation equipment to uproot it...

posted by P.T. on April 11th 2008 at 12:07pm
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thanks for that list. i google every plant before i buy it, but i still didn't know that jasmine is toxic for pets. and can i just brag for a second, my kitty looks exactly like the one aspca website.

posted by lieschenmueller on April 11th 2008 at 12:30pm
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Some great (tried and true and kitty tasted) cat safe plants:

Grape Ivy (cissus- not real ivy)
Hoya Carnosa (also known as wax plant)
Ferns (but not asparagus fern)
Spider plant (but they like to eat these so don't count on having many leaves left)
Bamboo

Kitty don'ts:

Pothos and Philodendron
Amaryllis
Lilies of any kind

Flowers my cat has sampled and been fine:

Tulip (flowers and leaves)
Iris (flowers only)
Lilac (she can't get enough of these)
Roses (likewise)
Dahlia

Plants she's sampled that have given her the runs (despite being listed as ok):

Canterbury Bells
Phlox

Plants that are supposedly not safe but she's sampled once or twice in her life and been fine:

ficus
china doll

I hope this helps!

posted by Miriam on April 11th 2008 at 9:17pm
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I know this has been said before, but I would really love to see a pets AT....

posted by AmyE on April 13th 2008 at 10:56am
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Are your sago palms even female? The male plats will never, ever seed.

posted by slipperymarshmallow on April 17th 2008 at 8:03pm
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