And Handling With Care

I noticed many angel’s trumpet trees in the yard of screenwriter Larry Levin’s home (“Cool, Calm and Colorful,” SoCal Style, June 11). If the Levin children are like my son, they may find these trees’ beautiful flowers irresistible and they may want to pick them. It took us a couple of scary episodes before a doctor (who happened to be an amateur gardener) informed us that the trees are of an extremely toxic plant family.

They are so potent that when my son picked a flower and later touched his eye, the eye became dilated for about 24 hours. Fortunately, he never put his finger in his mouth after picking a flower or a leaf, or after climbing the tree. Otherwise, the result might have been much worse than a scare.

Melinda Lilly Thompson

Via the Internet