by Leslie Cox; Monday, September 12, 2016

Honestly?! Who does give such a name as “fetterbush” to a shrub? Or even “dog hobble”??

Apparently, “fetterbush” was attached to Leucothoe fontanesiana because of its growth habit. And I can see why. The branches on this stellar shrub do cascade down to the ground. If one should plant it precariously close to a pathway, it could well “fetter” your progress through the garden.

As for one of its other common names, “dog hobble”…this refers to the plant’s toxicity if the leaves should be ingested.

Assuredly, our dogs have never touched this plant. Ever. Indeed, they have not even shown a passing interest. Visiting dogs to our garden have also ignored it completely. But I repeat the toxic warning here, for your information.

I did read one report where some baby goats were poisoned from eating the leaves of a leucothoe which was inside their pen. Thankfully, they were treated and recovered after a few days.

For more information about this wonderful, evergreen shrub, look under “In the Garden” under the menu bar and select “Plants We Grow” from the drop-down box. (Or you can click on the quick link here.)

And stay tuned for a more information to come in the next week on a couple of other shrubs worth growing in your landscape. For now, I must take a break from writing to deal with more zucchinis!