Colorful flowers, refreshing green plants, and precious fur babies are all scientifically proven to inspire happiness, elevate our quality of life, and decrease daily stress. However, if you live in a home with pets and botanicals, you know the importance of ensuring that everyone and everything can live in non-toxic harmony. As you bring in new flowers to brighten your room or plants to purify your air, make sure your selections are pet-friendly and safe for dogs and cats. Your friends here at Blossom Flower Shops, the top florist in Yonkers, have a short but sweet list of our favorite blooms and houseplants that are safe and non-toxic to our furry friends.
Safe Plants & Flowers for Pets
Parlor Palm
A decorative plant that spruces up any room in the home, parlor plants are pet-friendly and only need a few hours of indirect light each day.
Haworthia / Echeveria
If you love succulents, (and who doesn’t?), then rest assured in knowing that if you pick up an Echeveria or Haworthia plant, your furry friends will be safe. Just make sure that Jade plants, Aloe Vera, and Kalanchoe succulents are kept far away from your cats and dogs.
Snapdragons
Snapdragons are among the colorful flowers that thrive in cooler weather during late fall and early spring. Blooming in almost any hue, they are a wonderful, non-toxic selection to add to any floral arrangement or display as a single stem in elegant bud vases. While Fido can safely share his home with these tall and charming flowers, why not liven up your space with this unique pop of color.
Zinnias
So colorful, lush, and striking, zinnias are a popular garden flower as well as a great cut flower in vases. Add a pop of color that everyone will love with zinnias and rest easy knowing they are safe for pets.
African Violet
The soft and fuzzy green leaves of African Violets are sweetly accented by crinkly purple, blue, red, pink, or white flowers, making them one of the most popular flowering plants. For centuries, people have been admiring African Violets in their homes, and it is easy to see why. These low-maintenance beauties can thrive and flourish all year round in the right conditions. And to put the cherry on top, they are perfectly safe for your pets.
How to Protect your Pets from Toxic Plants & Flowers
As a dual plant and pet parent, it is not only important to ensure your botanicals are safe for your furry companions, but that they are displayed in a way where they can thrive in peace. For instance, a screened-in “greenhouse” on a porch or patio is a great way to make sure your dogs or cats aren’t eating petals and leaves or digging in pots. It is also imperative that pet parents know the signs of poisoning in pets, such as vomiting, dehydration, lethargy, loss of appetite, drooling, bleeding gums, etc. Finally, as you continue your research and consult the experts here at Blossom Flower Shops, you can also visit the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center website for a full guide of pet-friendly and toxic plants and flowers.
