Even a partial list of quite ordinary garden plants that can hurt us in some way is staggeringly long. If you were of a nervous disposition, it could turn you right off gardening with plants forever.

Thorns stab you, nettles sting, the milky juice exuded by all parts of every spurge, except the well-known Christmas Poinsettia, is caustic and should be washed off the skin immediately.

Rhubarb leaves are wildly toxic and should never be eaten, though it's perfectly safe to put them on the compost, as their particular poison is broken down by the process of decay. Obviously, the 'sticks' of rhubarb are safe enough or else most of us wouldn't be here.

The herb Rue, of which the handsomest kind is the blueleaved Ruta graveolens 'Jack - man's Blue', produces phototoxins that can blister and burn the skin, especially if picked in sunlight. Ditto the Giant Hogweed, only it's much worse and can leave permanent scars.

The roots of Monkshood (Aconitum) can kill, so keep it growing away from food crops. The trumpet flowers of Brugmansia, (formerly known as 'Datura'), contains a knockout drug that can send you into a dream state from which you might never wake up.

Everything from the dainty leaves of African violets or the innocent looking lily of the valley to the leathery strap leaves of the springflowering, beautifully scented, evergreen Clematis armandii is poisonous to dogs.

This clematis is actually one of the most dangerous plants of all for dogs, capable of killing outright. Our dog, who is fairly large, was at the vet twice in one year when she developed a grotesquely swollen head after chewing the leaves of an overhanging armandii.

Livestock are in danger too in a garden, particularly from unscrupulous gardeners and from lazy landowners. Some gardeners dump their prunings into fields where cows, sheep or horses graze, regardless of whether they're poisonous to the animals within. Prunings of box, laburnum, privet, yew, cherry laurel and rhododendron are particularly harmful.

As for the landowners, well, it's been a great year for the noxious (to cattle) yellow ragwort all over Ireland. I've never seen so much of it, despite the fact that it's completely illegal to have it growing.

Some plants are not poisonous as such, just eye or skin irritants. So you should wear protective clothing when you're working with them if you're susceptible.

Others produce wind-borne pollen that causes a range of allergies and the rest are actually poisonous when ingested.

If that happens to you, your pet or your child, seek medical attention and bring a sample of the offending plant along, if possible. You never know, there just might be a cure, most probably derived from another plant, as are most medicines in current use.

TO PLANT NOW

THE shops are awash with a huge range of crocus bulbs at the moment but be warned.

Because they are very small, they dry out quickly so should be planted as soon as possible after getting them home.

Look out for Cyclamen coum, which is often a deep rose colour and flowers from February onwards, sometimes emerging sweetly through a covering of snow.

A READER WRITES

A READER has asked which daffodils he should plant for fragrance. The answer is that many of them are well scented, even some of the oversized and overbred types. For knock-out scent though, try growing the paperwhite narcissus in pots, either in the house or out of doors.

For both grace and fragrance it's hard to beat the Poet's narcissus (N poeticus), which flowers usefully late in the season, from April and on throughout the month of May. The dainty little kinds are most fragrant and very pretty.

These include 'Thalia', which is a lovely white and looks absolutely wonderful when planted in a large drift, in a series of pots, in a long container such as a windowbox, or out in the garden near where you pass each day.

'Jack Snipe', 'Tete-a-Tete' and 'February Gold' all have a good scent too, as does the delicate-looking, hoop-coated daffodil known as Narcissus bulbocodium.

This last one also lends itself to planting in short grass, where it becomes naturalised and appears year after year, if it likes you.

Because it has very narrow, grass-like foliage, it just dies away, quietly and unobtrusively, before the last snows have melted.

WHAT'S ON RADIO

Gardening is back on Lyric FM, with Helen Dillon, every Friday morning at 10am.

Over on RTE Radio 1, Dermot O'Neill has moved from his morning slot on the Pat Kenny show to an afternoon slot on the new, two-hour afternoon show presented by Derek Mooney.

Meanwhile, on the same station on Saturday evenings, Gerry Daly's Ask about Gardening programme, which emerges every spring like a good, hardy perennial, will "nish up for the winter on Saturday 14 October.