The growing of 60,000 opium poppies in Chilliwack has understandably brought Papaver somniferum into public focus - but the fact is seed of the double-flowered form has long been sold for ornamental use, and many of us have a few plants in our gardens.

They're seldom unwelcome. Their frilly, pom-pom blooms are pretty, and their seed heads are decorative in dried flower arrangements. After being toasted, the seed (said to contain few alkaloids) has a spicy flavour that's tasty in meals and baked goods.

Flower colours include lilac, deep purple, white, maroon, yellow, scarlet, pink and striped. The lacinated flower form is widely sought after. There's a variety with enormous seedheads and another where little seedheads cluster around a larger one.

Sometimes this poppy appears whether we want it or not, since it's a hugely prolific seeder. But only a few seeds seem to survive composting. The toxicity of individual plants appears to be variable. Some are reputed to have as little as one per cent morphine content while others are said to range as high as 10 per cent.

This is one of the plants which, in ages long gone, spanned medicine as well as magic. In medieval times, it was one of the ingredients in an anesthetic sponge that helped patients sleep through painful procedures. Other components included ivy, mandrake and the poisonous, herbaceous hemlock.

As with other forms of medicine, the length of the effect (ranging from full recovery to death) depended on skill in using the most minute quantity necessary for the desired effect.

Papaver somniferum is also reputed to be one of the ingredients in the "flying" ointment of medieval witches.

Some of the other elements are said to be aconitum, belladonna, foxglove, hellebore root, poison hemlock and mandrake. All are poisonous.

It's not often considered that many apparently innocent plants in our gardens are very toxic. Some of them (or synthetic copies of the active ingredient) are used in medicine to this day.

Digitalis (for heart conditions), is one, also infinitely tiny doses of aconitum. Both are far too dangerous to be touched without medical supervision.

One warning signal telling gardeners to be cautious is when contact with a plant produces dermatitis. I banished aconitum from my garden after a stalk brushed over my face and produced a sore red welt that lasted for several hours.

Handling the seed of toxic plants can also be dicey, especially since it's almost impossible to wear gardening gloves for this task. Prolonged contact with hellebore seed has given me very sore fingers.

There can also be skin problems from plants that almost nothing eats. This can happen with bluebells, scilla, daffodils, narcissus, euphorbia and daphnes.

But it's not always a reliable guide. Slugs, for instance will eat things that nothing else will touch, including rhubarb leaves and the soft capsules of daphne seeds.

w News flash: The Alpine Garden Club of B.C. holds its fall sale from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Van Dusen Floral Hall, 37th Avenue at Oak Street, Vancouver. Info at www.agc-bc.ca.

Send garden questions to amarrison@shaw.ca.