Garlic was beloved of the Egyptians, and they included it in their tombs to help sustain the dead in the afterlife. They also used it medicinally, and thought that keeping garlic in the house kept snakes and scorpions away. In medieval times, garlic was considered a cure for leprosy, and lepers were known as ‘pilgarlics’ [...]

Walnut Walnut has a reputation as a sinister tree. It’s thought to kill any vegetation near it, and there is a recurrent thread on rec.gardens about what can be planted under a black walnut. Walnut trees seems to especially dislike oaks. In the evening, if you walk underneath a walnut tree, you can hear the [...]

Parsley Parsley is one of the essential plants in a witch’s garden, and medieval legend said that parsley seeds went to the devil nine times (or is it seven? This folklore is sooo inconsistent) and back before they would germinate. However, that belief stems from the earlier Greek belief that parsley seeds visited the underworld [...]

Helleborus niger is known as the Christmas Rose, since it blooms in the middle of winter. The flower is normally white; the “niger” in the Latin name refers to the color of the roots. Hellebore is one of the four classic poisons. (The other three are nightshade, hemlock, and aconite.) King Attalus III was one [...]

Cypress, the Mourning Tree Cypress, Cupressus funebris, was dedicated to Pluto, and was a common planting in cemeteries all along the Mediterranean. Turks, in particular, like to plant cypress on graves. Its wood was used for coffins. The Chinese plant cypresses on graves to strengthen the souls of the deceased and prevent the decay of [...]

The Dread Herb Basil While today basil is mostly thought of as a tasty herb (mmmm…..pesto), in the past its value has been questioned. Basil is originally from India, and is sacred to Vishnu, since it is his wife Lakshmi in disguise. Consequently, to break a sprig of basil fills him with pain. Alexander the [...]

Wormwood can be used to denote an entire family of plants, the Artemisias, but the “true” wormwood is Artemisia absinthium. Artemisia is derived from Artemis, the Greek goddess associated with the moon, and absinthium means “without sweetness”. The plant itself is easy to grow, and its silvery gray-green foliage glows in the moonlight. It’s a [...]