Flower saddness

[Karma]

Did a bunch of re-reading over the natural nutrition project and realized there are many different flowers called marigolds that I totally didn't know ... sooooo the flowers that took over our entire flower bed and grow insanely are marigolds ... but from Tagetes not Calendula.

I know the Calendula ones are fine but are the Tagetes marigolds fine as well? I picked some flowers off of them right when I got the degus and they have finished an entire small ziploc baggie of them with no (apparent) ill effects. Can I continue to feed these in the spring/summer or are there toxic effects with them?

It looks like it's going to be harder than I thought to find wild stuff for them. I have the Tagetes marigolds in mass, clover (both red and white) that grows pretty good but that must be fed in moderation. The popular trees are the cities so they are maintained pretty good and thus hard to reach any branches or leaves. Dandelions will be able to be picked by the bucketfull every day so that is fine.

Oh well, research some more and maybe I'll have better luck thinking of some other plants nearby. -grumbly sad moment- Okay I'm done. lol

[moletteuk]

Oh what a shame! I think tagetes is toxic, a quick google search indicates it's toxic anyway. Obviously, it can't be THAT toxic if your degus have eaten it and seemed OK, but I wouldn't feed them any more unless you find any more positive information.

I'm sorry I can't really help on Canada specific stuff you might find in towns. Are there any hedges made of anything tasty for goos?

[deguconvert]

I have to say I share in the flower saddness. There are no hedges right now that are anything more that bare and frozen. BUT . . . maybe in May . . . "ISH" there will be more hopeful stuff. The problem with Calgary is that we are a high altitude, relatively dry, cold, and a few other things that make growing things difficult. If you are familiar with growth zones, Calgary rates as a 3 . . . and that severely limits what grows or what we can grow.