QUICK LIST: Gardening for your Bunny

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NorthernAutumn

Autumn - Administrator
Joined
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Location
London / North Bay, Ontario, Canada
RABBIT-SAFE GARDEN PLANTS

Flowering Plants
African violet
Apple flowers
Aster
Baby's Tears
Bachelor's Buttons
Ball Fern
(Davallia bullata)
Calendulas/Pot Marigolds
Camellia
Coral Bells (Heucheria)
Cockscomb
Daisy
Dandelion
Day Lilies (Not actually Lilies... These are of the family Hemerocalis - stick to the blossoms)

Fireweed (aka willow herb)
Fuschia
Gardenia
Gladiolus (blossoms only - rest of plant is toxic. Do not allow access)
Hosta
Hyssop (Agastache spp. only: eg.
Giant hyssop or Anise hyssop Agastache foeniculum, or Licorice Mint Agastache rupestris)
Lavender
Lilac
Pansy
Pot Marigolds/Calendulas
Miner's Lettuce
Nasturtiums
Rose
Snapdragon
Sweet Pea - (NOT the ornamental variety: seeds cause lathyrism, a neurological disease)
Sunflower
Violet
Vibernum
Willow herb
Zinnia

Herbs
Basil:Lemon, Globe, Thai, Mammoth, Sweet, Genevieve, cinnamon basil, lime basil, lemon basil, sweet basil, licorice basil

Borage
Camomile
Caraway
Clover
Chervil
Comfrey
Coriander/Cilantro
Dill:
Fernleaf, Mammoth
Garden Cress
Lavender (Not for pregnant does; can cause fetal expulsion)
Lemon Balm
Lovage
Marjoram
Mint:
pineapple mint, apple mint, orange mint, peppermint, lemon thyme, , "licorice mint" (anise hyssop), spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint, and basil mint.
Oregano: Italian, Greek, GOlden
Peppermint
Parsley: Curly and Flat-Leaf
Rosemary
Sage: Pineapple Sage is particularly aromatic
Salad Burnet, Small Burnet
Summer Savory
Tarragon: French, Russian
Thyme (including
lemon thyme)


Fruit
Apple
Blackberry
Black currant
Blueberry
Currant
Grape (fruit, leaf and vine are edible)
Huckleberry
Raspberry
Red currant
Rosehip
Strawberry

Forbes/Grasses/Weed-like Species


Agrimony
Dandelion (shouldn't be too hard to grow ;) )
Chickweed
Clover (white)
Cress
Nettles (must be dried first to remove the "sting")
Oat Grass
Orchard Grass
Plantain Leaves
Rye Grass
Wheat grass
Yarrow (limited quantities)

Vegetables


See QUICK LIST: Rabbit-Safe Foods

The following can be grown for rabbits, but should be inaccessible, as portions of these plants are toxic for rabbits
:
Tomatoes (Only fruit can be eaten. No stems or leaves or tops)


Also see:
Feeding Your Rabbit
QUICK LIST: Rabbit-Safe Foods
QUICK LIST: International Rabbit-safe Food
Vegetables


RO Threads


RO Library: Rabbit Manure and Its Potential

Member Threads

Composting
Rabbit Poo as Fertilizer
Growing Veggies and Flowers for Rabbits
Safe Aromatic Herb Garden for Bunnies
Growing Bunny-Safe Flowers
Planting Grass for the Buns and Piggies
Bunny-Safe Plants and Flowers?
Flower/Dried Hay Treats


EXTERNAL REFERENCES
***3Bunnies: "Non-toxic Plants" http://www.3bunnies.org/non_toxic_plants.htm
***3Bunnies: "Toxic Plants": http://3bunnies.org/poisonous_plants.htm

Camilla Bergstrom: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/feeding_en.pdf

"Gardening for Bunnies" Karla Ortman http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/Articles/Gardening%20for%20Bunnies.htm
Basil's Garden: http://twincomics.com/garden.html
Rabbit-Safe Plants : http://kanin.org/node/189

There is a very extensive list of pet-safe plants here: http://www.sniksnak.com/plants.html. They also list toxic plants.


***Difference between Pot Marigolds and Common Marigolds:

Common marigold Tagetes:
http://www.sunnygardens.com/images/1934.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/French_marigold_Tagetes_patula.jpg

Calendula /Pot Marigold Asteracea:
http://www.plantcare.com/oldSite/httpdocs/images/namedImages/calendula_officinalis.jpg
http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/showFullWatermarked.html/B539218-Pot_marigold_%28Calendula_officinalis%29-SPL.jpg?id=665390218


***
Copyright Autumn Gambles (2010) - Reproduced with Permission.
 
Last edited:
Just a few remarks...
General observation: If only the flowers of a certain plant are safe, maybe it should not be in the rabbit-safe garden plants? I consider rabbit-safe to mean that a rabbit can run around in the garden, and occasionally nibble on plants, without being harmed.
Maybe also point out that although many plants are rabbit-safe, they are not necesarily food plants or nutritious. Though flower petals, and the leaves of some, can always be mixed with the regular greens, to give some variety.

Flowering Plants
Be carefull with sweat pea (the ornamental variety). The seeds of those can be toxic. Not deadly, but if eaten in large amounts, they can cause lathyrism, a nuerological disease.

I'm not sure about Hyssop, I know it is used medicinally, but don't know that I would eat or feed it. You may be thinking of the genus Agastache. Several of the plants in this genus have a common name with "hyssop" in it. The main one I grow (and feed to Hazel) is "Agastache foeniculum", common name is "Giant hyssop or Anise hyssop", though the leaftips of most agastaches are edible. Another, Agastache rupestris, is called "Licorice Mint", though it is not really a mint.

There are many more garden plants that are safe.
Viburnum, Baby's Tears, Ball Fern (Davallia bullata), Salvia (Scarlet sage, Texas sage), Coral Bells (Heucheria), snapdragon, African violet, Miner's Lettuce, Fire weed (willow herb), Camellia... There is a very extensive list of pet-safe plants here: http://www.sniksnak.com/plants.html. They also list toxic plants.

Herbs
Need to sort out the "Mints" listing :). You list all sorts of herbs there that aren't mint, like all the basils, pineapple sage, lemon thyme and licorice mint, which is an agastache, just like anise hyssop.

Oregano: some varieties are Italian oregano, Greek oregano, golden oregano.

Tarragon: French tarragon, Russian tarragon (mexican, or Texas, tarragon is "Tagetes lucida", a different family).

Fruit
You could also add blackberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant, huckleberry, apple.

 
Northern Autumn, Thanks very much for this helpful list of safe garden plants. I now plan to offer herbs sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lavender, lemon balm, to my rabbits. My rabbits love grapes and blueberries.
 

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