3C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015
NATALIE ST. JOHN — EO Media Group
Debbie Haugsten cares for some of the flowering plants in her large greenhouse near Klipsan Beach.
tering some of my plants like my collection of gerani-
ums. And I can work in the greenhouse in the pouring
rain.
in the
garden
Q&A
child. I do so enjoy being outdoors in my own yard
planting, cleaning up, and — yes — weeding. I don’t like
to weed but after an area has been weeded I feel I have
accomplished something great. And my husband says
that when I finish gardening for the day I look like I have
been rolling around in the dirt with our dog — so that’s
proof positive that I am having fun.
Q: What has been your biggest gardening success?
A: I would say my biggest gardening success is grow-
ing plants from cuttings and seeds and
then watching them flourish in my gar-
I plant what
den. I have grown a complete hedge of
shrubs from cuttings. Propagating plants
I love and do
is almost magical to me.
not concern
with
Debbie Haugsten
Q: Tell us about your greenhouse and the advan-
tages it provides your gardening?
A: My greenhouse is a true sanctuary for me. I love
being surrounded by the foliage and flowers. The big
advantage of having a greenhouse for me is being able
to propagate with cuttings and seeds with the luxury of
protection and climate control. I also use it for overwin-
Q: What’s the most recent garden-
ing book you’ve read that you would
recommend?
A: “Back in the Garden with Dulcy” by
Ted Mahar is a wonderful collaboration
of gardening columns from The Orego-
nian by the late Dulcy Mahar. Dulcy’s
columns talk of her adventures in gar-
dening in the Pacific Northwest, includ-
ing gardening advice and some hilarious
stories of her gardening successes and
Q: What part of your personality is
reflected in your garden?
myself with
A: My gardens are eclectic and diverse
balance and
just like the interior of my home. I plant
what I love and do not concern myself
symmetry.
with balance and symmetry. My gardens
exhibit many different textures, shapes
and colors, especially with my flowers. I am slowly cul- failures.
Debbie Haugsten, whose hobbies include gardening and
tivating a good group of perennial flowers that return
jewelry making, became a member of the Clatsop County
every year — another bit of the magic for me.
Master Gardeners Association in 2008. She is also a mem-
Q: Describe the pleasure you gain from working in ber of the Peninsula Arts Association. She is married to Dave
Haugsten and their family includes Ralph, a Golden Retriev-
your garden.
A: I have always loved gardening even as a small er.
Poison hemlock often mistaken for edible plants
`If you’re wrong,
you’re in big trouble,’
expert warns
what they’re about to add to a salad is
delicious or deadly.
“If you’re not a botanist ... I mean,
you could give it to me and in the lab
we could look at it under a microscope
DQG WHOO \RX GH¿QLWLYHO\´ VDLG &LQG\
Riskin, master of environmental horti-
culture, who wrote a press release for
the Washington State Noxious Weed
Control Board warning the public of
the dangers of misidentifying poison
hemlock.
Outside of a lab, though, foragers
really only get to be wrong once about
poison hemlock, Riskin said. “If you’re
ZURQJ\RX¶UHLQELJWURXEOH´
By KATIE WILSON
EO Media Group
WASHINGTON STATE — So far
this year, the Washington Poison Cen-
ter has treated 10 people who have eat-
en poison hemlock, an invasive weed
IRXQGWKURXJKRXWWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVW
that can easily be mistaken for an edible
plant.
Though the reported numbers are
average for any given year, not all in-
cidents are reported and the 10 cases as
of mid-May could be just the tip of the
iceberg, said Dr. Alexander Garrard, the
center’s toxicologist and clinic manag-
ing director.
Poison hemlock, or Conium mac-
ulatum, is not related to the hemlock
tree, but can be deadly. There is no
antidote for the toxic alkaloids in poi-
son hemlock, although the effects can
be managed through supportive care.
All of the plant’s parts can kill hu-
mans and animals, even when dried,
and it can easily be mistaken for more
benign members of the carrot or pars-
ley family (Apiaceae), including wild
carrot (Queen Anne’s lace), parsley,
parsnip, sweet cicely, anise, fennel,
wild chervil and caraway, as well as
FREE
PUBLISHED THE FIRST FRIDAY
OF EACH MONTH
January 2015
Widespread plant
Poison hemlock is widespread
in Washington state, growing along
Courtesy of William & Wilma Follette/US-
stream banks and roadsides, in vacant
DA-NRCS PLANTS Database
lots and construction sites, especially
Poison hemlock is a common plant where the soil is moist. It even creeps
in western Washington state, with into gardens. One person died in 1999
accidental poisonings most likely in Washington after eating the plant,
to occur in the spring when it most and another died in 2010. The Greek
closely resembles several other philosopher Socrates famously killed
plant species, some of which may himself by drinking poison-hemlock
be gathered for food by foragers.
tea in 399 B.C. after being accused of
refusing to recognize the gods recog-
the toxic Western water hemlock, or nized by the state and “corrupting the
watercress, which is in another fam- \RXWK´
ily.
In Washington in 2012, approxi-
In spring, a lot of these plants’ mately 17 people were reported to have
OHDYHV ÀRZHUV DQG VHHGV ORRN VLPL- been exposed to poison hemlock — a
ODU PDNLQJ LW HYHQ PRUH GLI¿FXOW IRU high number regional newspapers as-
IRUDJHUVDQGJDUGHQHUVWR¿JXUHRXWLI cribed to the rising popularity of forag-
ess in the
Chronicling the Joy of Busin
n
Columbia-Pacific Regio
striverbusinessjournal
crbizjournal.com • facebook.com/coa
Volume 10 • Issue 1
stry spo
allenges
Inside: Indu
copes with ch
Shellfish farm
an conditions
oce
nging
s optimistic despite cha
tlight:
Taylor remain
ing for wild, edible plants.
Once eaten, however, poison hem-
lock quickly reveals itself to be much
more than an attractive-looking salad
green. The toxic alkaloids attack the
nervous system, causing symptoms
such as a burning sensation in the
mouth, nausea, vomiting, confusion,
rapid heartbeat, seizures and paralysis.
For some people, even touching the
plant may cause a severe skin reaction.
People die from eating poison hemlock
due to respiratory paralysis.
One Bellingham-area man chopped
up poison hemlock with garlic, carrots
and onions in 2013, according to local
news reports. Minutes after eating a
small amount he said tremors began
to run throughout his entire body. He
spent four hours in the emergency
room and felt fatigued for days after-
ward, but suffered no long-term dam-
age. A representative of the Whatcom
County Noxious Weed Control Board
said he was lucky.
“Misidentifying poison hemlock or
other toxic plants can have truly tragic
UHVXOWV´VDLG$OLVRQ+DOSHUQH[HFXWLYH
secretary of the Washington State Nox-
ious Weed Control Board in a statement
this month. “Learn from an expert be-
fore foraging for wild plants, and if you
think you have poison hemlock on your
property, contact your county weed
board, conservation district or WSU
([WHQVLRQRI¿FHWROHDUQKRZWRVDIHO\
JHWULGRILW´
Available at a
newsstand near you
NEWS
County makes a splash
PacifIc
in the pot biz page 10
NEWS
Seaside Muffler and Off-Road
21
revs up its reputation page
BOAT OF THE MONTH
The Sadie out of South Bend,
Wash. page 24
Appearance changes
As the poison hemlock continues to
grow, it has more recognizable features
though it is still all too easy to mistake
it for something else. Telltale character-
istics include purple spots on a smooth,
hairless hollow stem that grows 2 to
12 feet tall accompanied by a musty
VPHOO'XULQJLWV¿UVW\HDULWUHVHPEOHV
a rosette of glossy, fernlike leaves and
its stem may or may not show purple. In
its second year, the poison hemlock pro-
duces umbrella-shaped clusters of white
ÀRZHUVZKLFKGHYHORSLQWRULGJHGVHHGV
Wild carrot, for which it is often mistak-
en, is usually only 3 feet tall or less and
SURGXFHVRQHGHQVHÀRZHUFOXVWHURQD
narrow, hairy stem, sometimes with a
SXUSOHÀRZHULQWKHFHQWHU
To any would-be foragers, Riskin
advises to proceed with caution, go
with a botanist or experienced forager,
harvest any plant carefully, and check
YDULRXVLGHQWL¿FDWLRQJXLGHV,IWKHUHLV
any question about whether or not the
plant is safe, leave it alone, Riskin said.
Mushroom foragers are always encour-
aged to only eat small amounts of wild
mushrooms at a time since different
people can react differently even to wild
mushrooms generally considered safe.
For a general guide to plants that
SURGXFH ODF\ ZKLWH ÀRZHUV ² VXFK
as poison hemlock — here is a handy
guide: www.nwplants.com/informa-
WLRQZKLWHBÀRZHUVZKLWHBFRPSDULVRQ
html
crbizjou rn a l.com