Nascent Ideas for Theme Gardens

Every time I get sick of doing Gothic Gardening, I read something else that gives me some new idea for the webpage…and I rarely stop with just that idea. I keep going until I get absolutely sick of it again. That having been said, I really am sick of doing theme gardens. I may occasionally add a plant here or there to the ones I have already, and I’ll probably spruce them up and make them more visually appealing. But I really don’t feel like researching and writing any more of these. That doesn’t mean I don’t have any other ideas for theme gardens; unfortunately, my mind runs overtime thinking up weird and stupid stuff (and barely works at all for anything important). So here are my undeveloped ideas for other sort-of-gothically-inclined theme gardens….and I’ve now added plant lists for some of them. But they remain essentially undeveloped….the details are up to you.

* Devil’s Garden–This could be a combination of a pun garden (like Le Jardin Sanguinaire) and a folklore garden. There are lots of plants that have “devil” in the name, like Devil’s Backbone and Devil’s Tongue. And you could also throw in plants that are historically associated with the devil, like parsley. A few of these devil plants are listed in the Witches’ Garden, but there are more than just those few.

* Of Serpents and Dragons–Again, a combination pun and folklore garden. Snake’s Head Fritillary, Dragon Tree, Snapdragons, and Viper’s Bugloss could all be included, as well as plants traditionally thought to be cures for snakebite.

* Lunacy Garden–This garden would an homage to the moon, and as such would include the plants from the Night Garden, but would also include plants under the astrological influence of the moon, plants that are sacred to moon goddesses, and plants which have ‘moon’ as part of their common or scientific names. The garden could be planted in the shape of a crescent moon.

* Wicca or Herbcraft Garden–Modern day witches, who very often call themselves wiccans, wouldn’t grow the evil Witches Garden. That garden is based on the folklorish notions of what a witch does; this garden would be designed with modern herbcraft in mind.

* Shakepeare’s Tragedy Garden–The Shakespeare Garden has been done to death, and there are quite a few books out there that list *every* plant mentioned by Shakespeare in his plays. (A sure case of Need to Get a Real Life Syndrome, in my opinion.) But to give this old idea a gothesque twist, grow plants from only the tragedies. There’s enough in Hamlet alone for a small garden.

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies. that’s for thoughts….
There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue
for you; and here’s some for me: we may call it
herb-grace o’ Sundays: O you must wear your rue with
a difference. There’s a daisy: I would give you
some violets, but they withered all when my father
died: they say he made a good end….

One suggestion I recieved was an “Ophelia Drowned” theme water garden set up with a female manniquin at the bottom of the pool.

* Torture Garden–Why not do a garden consisting of plants that were used, in some manner, for torture?

* Voodoo Garden–This one should be obvious. If you’re interested in one of the many varieties of voodoo, this would be a good excuse to research it and find any significant botanical specimens that would be necessary for you to properly practice it.

* Historical Gardens–I’ve seen garden plans for just about any time period, including biblical, Egyptian, renaissance, medieval, colonial, and Victorian. If you are interested in growing heirloom plants, Grandmother’s Garden is a good place to start.

* Bog Garden–Well, I think bogs are pretty icky and spooky. Some cattails, skunk cabbage, and a few of the carnivorous plants, perhaps surrounding a pond filled with black koi, would make a pretty gothic garden….

* Exorcism Garden–This would consist of plants which are traditionally thought to drive evil spirits away, sort of the opposite of the Devil’s Garden. Laurel, herb-bennett, thistle, aloe, honesty, juniper, mugwort, peony, hellebore, elder, nettle, and St. John’s wort would all belong in this garden.

* Incense Garden–What determines gothic Incense? Dark, obviously, or nostalgically sweet – a blend of any of the following: roses, patchouli, opium (from opium poppies – not exactly legal to grow….), violets, vervain, basil, rosemary, bay, pine, cedar, wisteria, heliotrope, lavendar, orris (orris root is a fixative but it has a fragrance all its own, somewhat reminiscent of dry earth with a touch of sweet), cypress, mugwort, mint, wormwood, tansy, and willow. The rest are from plants which don’t grow well in the US – cloves, myrrh, benzoin, frankincense, sandalwood. A blend of rose, patchouli, lavendar, orris, woodruff, and sandalwood smells almost like a graveyard at sunset after a funeral, when the flowers are just beginning to wilt and the dirt is still fresh-scented – kind of sweeetish and earthy, with an undertone of new mown grass. Some other suggestions for an incense garden include alkanet for purification, althea for psychic powers, and asafoetida for exorcism incense. (thanks to Gothic Gardening readers Noddy and Joey)
New! incense recipes

* Love Slave Garden–For the dominatrix in all of us (ok, well perhaps not the guys). This garden would consist of plants used in love charms that can be used to make others swoon at your feet. Gothic Gardening reader Joey suggected the following: love apples or cherry tomatoes – an aphrodesiac; garlic – aphrodesiac; caraway – to attract lovers; rose – to attract certain kind of lover (red – sexual lover, pink – true love, white – virgin/pure love, yellow – jealous lover, orange – making you attractive); jasmine – to seduce men or to attract spiritual love; lavender – to seduce men; basil – for both love and lust; dill – love magick; gold marjoram – making you shine like the sun (sex speaking); vervain – love potions; corriander – seed in love potions; violet – mix dried flowers with lavender for love/lust potion

* Spider Garden–Well, there aren’t any plants particularly good for attracting spiders, but they love mulch. And there’s Spider Lilies (Hymenocallis and Lycoris), Spiderwort (Commelinaor Tradescantia), Spider Flower (Cleome), and Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum). And the garden could be planted in the shpae of a spider….

* Garden of the Seven Deadly Sins–Plants representing each of the Cardinal sins.

* Garden of Ruin–More a decorating scheme than a planting scheme. Broken pottery, broken statues, pots broken in half sitting propped up against stones, with plants growing out of them, over-turned pots of flowers, stumps (planted or unplanted), rotting wicker baskets with plants growing through them.

* Day of the Dead Garden–Marigolds are used on the day of the dead to decorate loved ones graves. Warihio amaranth also has a ceremonial purpose. An outdoor altar, especially in an ornate latin american or spanish theme would be appropriate (perhaps with milagros or a milagro cross). This garden would not be complete without the skeletons (real or plastic bones would do!)

* Glow in the Dark Garden–Fungi are the only plants which actually luminesce in the dark (and they aren’t actually plants). I have no idea how you’d get these started, but here’s the ones to look for:
o Omphalotus illudens (olearius)
o Clitocybe illudens
o Armillaria mellea
o Panellus stipticus

We live in a garden of death. Virtually every day of our lives we are in intimate contact with many of the world’s most poisonous plants. Intentionally, we have surrounded ourselves with plants such as yew, the “bastard killer,” and the herbs of black magic. We tend and nurture them in our living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. We spend vast sums to keep them flourishing in our yards and window boxes. Yet they can be more deadly than the most venomous of serpents.”
–Edward R. Ricciuti in The Devil’s Garden

By popular demand, here is a garden which should never be planted, for it contains some of the most deadly botanic specimens known to man. This is a garden where only a Borgia or a Medici could stroll along happily, a Garden of Deadly Delights.
The Most Toxic Plant?

In North America, this award would probably go to the water hemlock, Cicuta maculata, a relative of the carrot. This plant is most often ingested when it is mistaken for wild parsnip. A case documented in England graphically describes the result of making this mistake:

Water Hemlock When about the end of March, 1670 the cattle were being led from the village to water at the spring, in treading the river banks they exposed the roots of this Cicuta, whose stems and leaf buds were now coming forth. At that time two boys and six girls, a little before noon, ran out to the spring and the meadow through which the river flows, and seeing a root and thinking it was a golden parsnip, not through the bidding of any evil appetite, but at the behest of wayward frolicsomeness, ate greedily of it, and certain of the girls among them commended the root to the others for its sweetness and pleasantness, wherefore the boys, especially, ate quite abundantly of it and joyfully hastened home; and one of the girls tearfully complained to her mother that she had been supplied too meagerly by her comrades, with the root.

Water HemlockJacob Maeder, a boy of six years, possessed of white locks, and delicate though active, returned home happy and smiling, as if things had gone well. A little while afterwards he complained of pain in his abdomen, and, scarcely uttering a word, fell prostrate on the ground, and urinated with great violence to the height of a man. Presently he was a terrible sight to see, being seized with convulsions, with the loss of all his senses. His mouth was shut most tightly so that it could not be opened by any means. He grated his teeth; he twisted his eyes about strangely and blood flowed from his ears. In the region of his abdomen a certain swollen body of the size of a man’s fist struck the hand of the afflicted father with the greatest force, particularly in the neighborhood of the ensiform cartilage. He frequently hiccupped; at times he seemed to be about to vomit, but he could force nothing from his mouth, which was most tightly closed. He tossed his limb about marvelously and twisted them; frequently his head was drawn backward and his whole back was curved in the form of a bow, so that a small child could have crept beneath him in the space between his back and the bed without touching him. When the convulsions ceased momentarily, he implored the assistance of his mother. Presently, when they returned with equal violence, he could be aroused by no pinching, by no talking, or by no other means, until his strength failed and he grew pale: and when a hand was placed on his breast he breathed his last. These symptoms continued scarcely beyond a half hour. After his death, his abdomen and face swelled without lividness except that a little was noticeable about the eyes. From the mouth of the corpse even to the hour of his burial green froth flowed very abundantly, and although it was wiped away frequently by his grieving father, nevertheless new froth soon took its place.

(From: C.A. Jacobson, “Water Hemlock (Cicuta).” Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 81, 1915)

A Deadly Family: The Solanaceae

If there was a list of the “Most Dangerous Plants” members of this family would probably fill over half of the top ten. Many members of this group were regular denizens of the witch’s garden, including nightshade, henbane, jimson weed, mandrake, tobacco, and tomato. Yes, tomatoes are poisonous, but it’s the vines and leaves, not the fruits, that contain toxic alkaloids. Some other poisonous members include:

Ground Cherry
Physalis species are common ornamentals, and are also known as Chinese Lanterns. The berry on these plants is surrounded by a papery puff (a persistent calyx), which looks like a small lantern.

Potato
The green parts of the potato contain the alkaloids characteristic of the Solanaceae family. The potato tuber itself can also be a problem if the skin is excessively green. But even if the potato didn’t contain the solanine alkaloids, it would still be considered dangerous. Ruskin said of it: “In the potato, we have the scarcely innocent underground stem of one of a tribe set aside for evil.” Why did he say it was scarcely innocent? Because the potato is the source of one of the scourges of Russian society–vodka is made from fermented potatoes.

Cyanide Sources

Members of the rose family, Rosaceae, often contain compounds called cyanogenic glycosides. These compounds, when broken down in the body, liberate cyanide, one of the most toxic substances known to man. It’s lethal dose is only 1 mg/kg body weight. Luckily for us, the concentration in these plants is usually far below the toxic dose, and the breakdown of the cyanogenic glycosides is often not complete. However, several species in common cultivation do have high concentrations of the glycosides in their seeds, and eating these seeds can (and has been) fatal. These toxic seeds include apple seeds, cultivated cherries, peach and apricot pits, almonds, and pears, which are all members of the rose family. The leaves of wild cherries will also contain the poison.

Cyanogenic glycosides are not exclusive to this family, though: more than 2050 species of higher plants contain them. Some other common plants which can generate cyanide include hydrangeas, tropical lima beans (not the white american ones), bamboo sprouts, sorghum shoots, and cassava tubers. Cassava, in particular, is very toxic, and cannot be eaten raw; this is important since large parts of the world use cassava as a main carbohydrate source.

P.S. Roses themselves don’t contain the cyanide-producing compounds.
Fatal Fungi

When talking about mushrooms, it’s easier to talk about the ones that aren’t poisonous, rather than the ones that are. The former is a much shorter list than the latter. However, these mushrooms are some of the most toxic of the known species.

Death Cap
Death Cap, Amanita phalloides is a member of a family that contains probably the best known of the deadly mushrooms. While some amanitas are edible, it is too easy too confuse the edible ones with the fatal ones, so it’s a family best left alone. These mushrooms have white spores, a cup at the base of the stalk, and a skirtlike ring just below the cup. However, the ring can be buried, so the most important identifier is the spore color. Some other fatal amanitas include Destroying Angel, A. virosa, and Fool’s Mushroom, A. verna. These three are almost always fatal if ingested.
Deadly Amanitas
Fly Agaric
A. muscaria, is another well known member of the amanita family, and is only slightly less deadly. It gets its name from the fact that flies are killed by the ibotenic acid on the mushroom. The toxic compounds it contains are muscarine and mycoatropine. It is possibly the source of the ancient drug Soma. Panther Cap, A. patherina, contains the same substances as Fly Agaric, and also has a mycotoxin, making it the deadlier of the two.
Fly Agaric and Panther Cap

False Morel
Gyromita esculenta is a strange mushroom–in some regions where it grows, it is edible. In other areas, it is deadly. The toxic principle in the false morel is gyromitrin, which the body breaks down into monomethylhydrazine, a compound which is similar to what is used in rocket fuel.    False Morel

Inocybe fastigiata and Clitocybe dealbata
These two mushrooms are only fatal in about five percent of the cases of ingestion. They both contain large amounts of muscarine, much larger than the amount found in fly agaric.
Inocybe and Clitocybe

Plants of War

Man has, of course, found a way to use plant poisons in one of his favorite pastimes, the waging of war. Achilles was most likely killed by a poison arrow. How else could a heel wound be fatal? In his case, the most likely candidate would be aconite, the poison found in monkshood. All of the following poisons are also plant-derived, and while they have been used quite often in hunting, they are just as often used when the prey was another man.

Curare
This infamous poison from South America has two different sources. One is a liana vine, Chondodendron tomentosum, related to moonseed, a deadly wild plant found in the US which can be mistaken for wild grapes. The other vine is Strychnos guianensis. Other ingredients enhance the quality of the poison. Curare paralyzes the victim, starting with the limbs, until eventually the diaphragm is paralyzed and the victim cannot breathe. The mind remains alert throughout the whole process.

Ouabain
A poison used in Africa, ouabain is derived from a tree known as “muriju”, a species of Acocanthera, or the related Strophanthus. This poison stops the beating of the heart, and its primary use today is for elephant poaching.

Strychnine
A small tree native to India is the source of this poison. The Nux-vomica tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, was once thought to prevent vomiting. However, the bark and seeds of the tree contain strychnine, a poison that leaves the victim with his face stretched into a gruesome death grin. Many of the nux-vomica’s relatives also contain strychnine-like poisons, including a vine used by Punan aborigines in Borneo to poison their blowgun darts.

Upas
The upas tree was called the world’s most deadly tree by Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandfather). Its sap, if it enters the bloodstream, will paralyze the heart in a few minutes. The tribes of Java dipped their arrows into this sap during the rebellions against the Dutch.

Death Be Thy Name

Some plants have such bad reputations that their name reflects this….

El Arbol de la Muerte
The “Tree of Death” of the Spaniards is now know as the manchineel, and is a native of the Carribean and Florida. The leaves and wood contain a toxin that burns the skin on contact, and can cause ulceration or even paralysis. If you sit in the shade of the tree, you risk blistering or worse. The apples of the tree are shiny and green, and if eaten are fatal.

Dead Men’s Fingers
Oenanthe crocata is considered one of the most dangerous poisonous plants in Great Britain. It is found in marshy areas, like the water hemlock, and contains a very similar and equally deadly poison.

Death Camas
This common range plant of the western US has been responsible for the death of untold numbers of sheep, probably moreso than any other plant. People are killed by it when it is mistaken for edible camas.

Deadman’s Vine
Columbian Indians use Banisteriopsis caapi for rituals. A brew made from the vine induces a deathlike coma. The bark is the source of harmine.

Trial by Ordeal

Several plants in different parts of the world were used for the ritual known as trial by ordeal. If a person was suspected of some crime, which was often witchcraft, they were subjected to an ordeal where they were forced to drink a poison. If they survived, they were considered innocent. If they died from the poison, they were guilty. In West Africa, the ordeal bean was from a vine, Physostigma venehosum. This bean is known as the Calabar bean, and is the source of the poison physostigmine, which is used medicinally against glaucoma. The Merina tribe of Madagascar used the seeds of the tree Tanghinia venenifera for trial by ordeal. When the French took over Madagascar, the only way they found to stop the practice was to cut down the trees, which nearly eliminated them from the island. In medieval Italy, foxglove was used for trial by ordeal. The Bible describes a trial by ordeal also, in which a woman suspected of adultery should be forced to drink “the bitter water that brings a curse”, although the source of the poison is not mentioned by name.
Common Dangers in Home and Garden

It is simply amazing how many of the common houseplants and landscaping plants with which we voluntarily surround ourselves are deadly.

Dieffenbachia
This plant is a very common houseplant, and also goes by the name of dumbcane. The leaves and stem contains needle-sharp crystals of calcium oxalate, which, if the plant is chewed, lodge themselves in the mouth, tongue and lips, and cause great swelling. In fact, the swelling is so bad that the ability to speak is impaired, hence the name dumbcane. But how is this deadly? It is not unusual for these crystals to become lodged in the back of the throat and cause swelling there–which leads to painful and agonizing suffocation.

Yew
All species of yews, from the Japanese to the American to the English, are lethally dangerous. This common ornamental shrub was once used as an abortifacient, hence the name “bastard killer”. Its main problem was that it killed the mother as often as it killed her fetus. The poison is an alkaloid, taxine, which first causes gastrointestinal upset then leads to convulsions and stops the beating of the heart. A few small nibbles on a sprig while hanging Christmas decoration was enough to kill a woman within three hours.

Rhubarb
Many consider rhubarb to be a tasty, tangy vegetable. But only the stalks of the leaves are safe to eat. The leaves themselves, which are large, may be tempting as a source of greens, but they contain high amounts of oxalic acid, which, unlike the calcium oxalate in dumbcane, enters the bloodstream. There it clots the blood, crystallizes in the kidneys, and eventually leads to death. During WWI, the English government, in an effort to conserve food, mistakenly encouraged people to eat the leaf blades of rhubarb and many people died as a result.

Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Mountain Laurel
These are common landscaping bushes, especially here in the southeastern US, which is known for its azalea gardens. But all parts of these plants including the flower nectar contain a resinoid, andromedotoxin. This toxin affects the nervous system and the heart. Not only is consuming parts of the plant lethal, but bees which feed on flowers from these plants make poison honey. Mountain laurel was once used by the Delaware Indians to brew a “suicide tea”.

Castor
Castor bean oil was used medicinally as a laxative, and the plant is grown ornamentally for its showy leaves. But the beans themselves, which are supposedly pleasant-tasting, contain ricin, which causes vomiting, cramps, stupor, convulsions, destruction of red blood cells, and circulatory collapse. As few as three beans can be fatal, but luckily, ricin is a water-soluble protein, so it isn’t present in the oil.

Jequirty Peas
The seed from the jequirty vines was once used for bean bags, rag dolls, and rosaries. This seed has a very distinctive appearance: shiny red with a black tip. One seed, if chewed before ingested, can be lethal. However, if the seed is swallowed whole, it passes harmlessly through the digestive tract.     >

Oleander
The colorful flowers of the oleander make it popular for hedges. However, it contains two cardiac glycosides which will stop the heart if only a single leaf is ingested. Even roasting a marshmallow over a flame provided by an oleander branch could prove fatal.

But the danger hardly ends with this list. Buttercups, a common lawn weed, can be as deadly as the closely related monkshood and wolfsbane, used by witches . Carolina jessamine, fragrant in the evening, has poisonous strychnine-like nectar, which leads to poisoned honey, if it doesn’t kill the bees first. Lily of the Valley has a cardiac glycoside in the bulb that stops the heart. Most members of the lily family, including autumn crocus and Star of Bethlehem, contain fatal alkaloids. Lantana, with its showy flowers planted to attract butterflies, is noted for its liver toxicity. We truly live in a garden of death.

The architecture, the ceremony, the symbolism, even the mood of Catholicism make it a religion that attracts and fascinates the Gothic element, even if those Goths don’t actually practice the religion itself. The gothic aesthetic is obsessed with gargoyles, rosaries, gothic arches and stained glass, Orthodox icons, candelabras, crucifixes, and many trappings of the Catholic and Orthodox religions. While Catholicism many not seem as grounded in the fruits of the earth as, say, the Druids of Ireland are, there do exist connections between the Church and green growing things. Monks were some of the greatest vintners that Europe has ever had; almost every cloister had an herb garden for culinary and medicinal purposes. There are many plants which had a symbolic link to the Virgin Mary, and entire gardens have been devoted to Her flowers. And there are plants which have no real symbolic or religious connection, but have names that reflect those elements of the Church which people saw in their horticultural visage. This garden contains many of the plants of Christian folklore, my version of a Botanic Cathedral.
Flowers of the Madonna

There is a very long list of plants that have associations with the Virgin Mary, and Mary Gardens were very popular in medieval Europe. Most of these plants are supposed to represent some aspect of the Virgin’s wardrobe or household or part of her human form. Others have deeper religious meaning and symbolize certain aspects of spiritual life. The complete list of plants is staggering, and only a few flowers are listed here. A very comprehensive list of Mary’s flowers can be found at Mary’s Gardens .

Madonna and child
Madonna Lily
This flower symbolizes the moral beauty and purity of Mary. The golden anthers represent the glory of her soul. These lilies were carried by the angel of the Annunciation.

Rose
The rose is the emblem of Mary, bearing the flower which is Christ. Both red and white roses are appropriate for a Mary Garden. When St. Thomas opened Mary’s tomb, he found that her body had been replaced by roses and lilies. Originally, rosary beads had been made of rolled up rose petals.

Rosemary
The flowers of the rosemary were once white, but Mary spread her coat to dry on a rosemary bush, and the flowers were forever blue after that. Any blue-flowering plant is appropriate for Mary, since she is most often depicted wearing blu e.

Strawberry
This represents the “Fruitful Virgin”, since the plant is in fruit and flower at the same time. Supposedly , the Virgin Mary accompanies children who go strawberry picking on St. John’s Day. Mothers who have lost children should not eat strawberries on this day, or her child will not enter Paradise.

Impatiens
These are “Our Lady’s Earrings”, which adorn the ears of she who heard the word of God and kept it.

Lady’s Smock, or Cuckoopint
In Europe, this flowers at Ladytide, March 25. The silver-white blossoms resemble little smocks hung out to dry.

Ladyslipper
This flower is symbolic of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth; “All her steps were most beauteous.”

To further outfit Our Lady:

* Our Lady’s Mantle: Ipomoea
* Our Lady’s Ribbons: Ribbon Grass
* Our Lady’s Laces: Dodder
* Our Lady’s Nightcap: Canterbury Bells
* Our Lady’s Tresses: Quaking Grass
* Our Lady’s Cushion: Armeria
* Our Lady’s Candlesticks: Oxlip
* Our Lady’s Thimbles: Campanula
* Our Lady’s Bedstraw: Galium verum

Milk Thistle
Once known as ‘Our Lady’s Thistle’, Carduus marianus gets its name from the white veins in its leaves. Legend has it that one day Mary stopped to feed the Holy Child, and was so tired from her long ride that she fell asleep. The babe was also soon slumbering, and some drops of milk escaped from Her Breast, and fell upon a thistle, which forever bears the imprint of this accident.

Plants Associated with the Savior

A small selection of plants that have some connection to the Son of God….

Passion Flower
When the Spaniards came to the New World, they found a vine which they called Maracoc, but we know as Passion Flower. They saw in the flower the symbol of Christ’s Passion, and assigned each part of the flower a meaning. The leaf was a symbol of the spear, the five anthers were the five wounds, the tendrils were cords and whips, the column of the ovary was the pillar of the Cross. The circle of threads in the center of the flower was the crown of thorns. The ten petals were the ten apostles who did not deny or betray the Lord. The life span of the flower was only three days, which resonated with the three days and nights that “the Son of man be…in the heart of the earth.”
Dogwood
This is one of the trees on which Christ was supposed to have been crucified. The tree pitied his suffering, so He promised it would never again grow large enough to be used for such a nefarious deed. The blossoms of this tree form the shape of a cross, and the dark spot present on each petal represents Christ’s wounds.
Holly
Its common name is a corruption of ‘holy’. The bark is bitter, as in the bitterness of sin. The prickles are the sufferings of Christ. And for those with red berries, they represent the blood of Christ.

Crown Imperial
This flower supposedly stared boldly at Christ while He was on the way to His Crucifixion. It was later so shamed by this action that it has forever since held its head down.

Rush and Jujube
These two plants were the most likely combination used to form the crown of thorns. Rush, a bog-loving grass, was most likely used to form a circlet, and then the thorns from the jujube, Ziziphus rhamnus christi, were add ed to the circlet. An ancient crown made in this manner is found at Notre Dame in Paris.

In a Monastery Garden

A monastery normally had more than one garden. There was a vegetable garden, which was used to (obviously) to grow food and herbs such as onions, garlic, leeks shallots, celery, parsley, chervil, coriander, dill, lettuce, poppy, savory, radishes, parsn ips, carrots, cabbage, beets, and corncockles. The physic garden, usually located right next to a window of the doctor’s house, contained plants which were used by him. These herbs included rose, watercress, sage, peppermint, rosemary, pennyroyal, watercress, rue, tansy, and others. Many of these herbs were aromatic, and the location of the garden would allow the patients the benefit of their scents. Not wanting to waste space, the cemetery area of the monastery would have many trees planted in it, where ever there were not graves. Fruit trees were often grown in this area, including apple, pear, plum, fig, peach, and quince. Some nut and ornamental trees would also be grown in the cemetery. The cloister area would often have the physic herbs growing in it, as well as ‘church herbs’: those plants used primarily for decoration of the church and celebration of feast days and processions. These ‘church herbs’ would also be planted in the area known as the ‘field of Paradise’, which was an open space at each end of the church. All monasteries would have an orchard, and many larger monasteries had a vineyard. Other gardens which might found in a monastery included a Mary Garden, dedicated to the Virgin, or a Rosary, which originally just meant a rose garden. All the gardens would be under the care of the gardinarius, who had an assistant for each garden.
Flowers of the Saints

Monks once compiled a catalogue of the flowers dedicated to each saint, and every day of the year, save one, has a saint/flower combination. Poor St. Sylvester, whose feast day is December 31st, is the only one whose entry reads “No flower appropriate d”. An old verse gives many of the most important flowers associated with the Christian year:

The Snowdrop, in purest white arraie,
First rears her head on Candlemas daie;
While the Crocus hastens to the shrine
Of Primrose love on St. Valentine.
The comes the Daffodil, beside
Our Lady’s Smock at Our Lady-tide.
Aboute S. George, when blue is worn,
The blue Harebells the fields adorn;
Against the day of Holie Cross,
The Crowfoot gilds the flowerie grasse,
When S. Barnabie bright smiles night and daie,
Poor Ragged Robin blooms in the hay.
The Scarlet Lychnis, the garden’s pride,
Flames at S. John the Baptist’s tide.
From Visitation to S. Swithin’s showers,
The Lillie White reigns Queen of the Floures;
And Poppies, a sanguine mantle spred
For the blood of the Dragon S. Margaret shed.
Then under the wanton Rose, agen
That blushes for Penitent Magdalen,
Till Lammas daie, called August’s Wheel,
When the long Corn stinks of Camamile.
When Mary left us here below,
The Virgin’s Bower is in full blow;
And yet anon, the full Sunflowre blew,
And became a star for Bartholomew.
The Passion-floure long has blowed,
To betoken us signs of the Holy Roode.
The MIchaelmas Daisies, among dede weeds,
Blooms for S. Michale’s valorous deeds;
And seems the last of floures that stode,
Till the feste of S. Simon and S. Jude–
Save Mushrooms and the Fungus race,
That grow till All-Hallow-tide takes place.
Soon the evergreen Laurel alone is greene,
When Catherine crownes all learned menne.
The Ivie and Holly Berries are seen,
And Yule Log and Wassaile come round agen.

“Now is the winter of our discontent” could be said almost every winter by a gardener. The sky is gray and dreary, the trees are merely the bones of their branches, the earth is cold and the wind is icy. The garden exists in its most skeletal form. If anyone were silly enough to pick the most ‘gothic’ season, winter would win easily. No sunbathers, no heat (and no heatstroke from wearing black), the days are blissfully short and the nights are chillingly long. But even in winter, a well planned garden can be delightful. With some forethought, you, too, can bundle up in your silks and velvets and leathers and stroll about your winter garden….

Architecture

When all the lush greenery of summer is long gone, the architectural elements of the garden become far more visible. Fences, arbors, paths and walls all become very important visual elements. Well placed statuary provide focal points for the eye. I can’t tell you exactly how to construct your garden, but remember to keep it somewhat simple, not garish. Make sure it works within the confines of your garden space. Include the outlines of trees, shrubs, and hedges when looking with a critical eye at your garden architecture.

While I’m certainly not going to advocate filling your lawn with cement geese or cutouts of little boys urinating, I can make a few suggestions for ornamentation:

Gargoyles
The obvious choice. Of course, I should call them grotesques rather gargoyles, since most I’ve seen don’t function as waterspouts (but who’s going to be that picky?). Make sure to get them made of an outdoor resin (pricey) or concrete (cheap). The one that is easiest to find is the winged dog, but many places offer others such as the gnawing or spitting gargoyles or dragons. Griffins and lions also make excellent garden pieces. Design Toscano is expensive, but has the best selection I’ve seen. There are also several places on the web now which sell outdoor statuary.

Gazing Globes
gazing globe I admit, when one of these red or blue colored globes is sitting on a birdbath pedestal in the middle of the front lawn of a trailer, it looks like nothing more than a huge christmas ornament. However, these globes were beloved of the Victorians, who found two uses for them. The first involved spying on, or rather, discreetly chaperoning young couples strolling in the garden to make sure there they weren’t doing anything naughty. The second use was a bit more superstitious– they were supposed to scare off witches, since witches would be horrified by their reflection. A plain silver or deep burgundy globe could be tucked into a corner of the garden.

Garden Saints
Several saints belong in the garden. St. Fiacre, a 7th century Irishman, is one of the patron saints of gardens (and for some reason, also of taxicabs and relief from hemorrhoids). He became a hermit in France, healing the sick. He was visited by so many people that he asked the Bishop for more land; he was given as much land as he could clear with his spade in one day. A host of angels came down from heaven and helped him, and in commemoration of the miracle, he became the patron saint of gardeners. Most statues of St. Fiacre are done in the true gothic style. St. Phocas is the other patron saint of gardeners, and lived in the 3rd century. He dug his own grave in his garden when the lictors came to kill him because he was a Christian. St. Francis of Assisi is also appropriate for the garden, since is a protector of animals. St. Isadore is the patron saint of farmers. St. Dorothy is associated with flowers.

Green Man
The Green Man is the male principle of fertility, symbolizing renewal and resurrection, and is considered good luck in the garden. His leafy image represents the guardian of the forest and all green, growing things. Sometimes the foliage of his face is sculpted accurately enough to identify the species of the plant.     Green Man
Topiary
Plants as sculpture! Many evergreen shrubs can be selectively trimmed so that they are shaped into the desired form–just don’t go Disney. Also, evergreen vines such as ivy can be grown along wire frames to make interesting shapes. Hmmm….perhaps a nice bat?

There are many more options for decorations. Wrought iron furniture, or perhaps even a wrought iron gazebo, classical statues, heliochronometers (the vaguely globe-like sundials), gothic stepping stones….

Showy Winter Plants

With so little green about, many plants offer interest from their bark or shoots or berries, and a few still offer beautiful foliage.

Willow
A few willow species have lovely color during the winter. Salix alba ‘Britzensis’ has brilliant orange red shoots. This works best if planted as a group, so there are many of these red twiggy shoots together. S. daphnoides has deep purple-plum bark, which would look nice against a light background.

Dogwood
Similar to S. alba, Cornus alba has two varieties which put forth brilliant colored shoots during winter. ‘Sibirica’ has intense crimson stems, and ‘Kesselringii’ has deep purple-black shoots.     Sibirica dogwood
Whitebark Birches
There are many Betula species with the striking white bark that make these popular. The Himalayan birch, B. utilis jacquemontii is probably the whitest, with even the smallest branch being milky white. The native north american paper birch, B. papgrifera, is more cream colored.

Moosewood
A native north american snakeskin maple, Acer pensylvanicum has jade green bark striped with silver and white. The smallest branches are green, slightly larger ones are reddish brown, and then the largest branches and the trunk have the snakeskin pattern.

Silk Tassel Bush
Garrya elliptica is an evergreen shrub that forms silvery jade green catkins in winter. Male plants have larger catkins than the females.

Holly
There are many Ilex species, and these are thought of as a traditional winter plants. One intriguing female variety is I. aquifolium ‘Perry’s Silver Weeping’, which has leaves edged in silver and a “weeping” habit.

Skimmia
Skimmia japonica has bright red berries all winter, which the birds won’t eat, and the variety ‘Rubella’ will form pink flower buds in winter.

False Castor-oil Plant
Fatsia japonica has white flowers late in autumn, which may last into winter, but in late winter form clusters of black berries.

Italian Arums
The Arum italicum varieties have lovely marbled leaves which appear in late autumn and last all winter, and early in winter they are complemented by spikes of bright orange-red fruits.

Bergenia
These are semi-evergreen plants with leathery leaves. Bergenia cordifolia ‘Purpurea’ has leaves which turn magenta in winter, and B. purpurascens has dark reddish leaves.

There are also the “contorted” trees, such as Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick, which are so gnarled that their leafless branches are an intriguing shape in the winter garden.

Winter Flowers

Nature is resourceful, and even during the cold, bleak days of winter, some plants give forth blooms. Unlike the blooms of summer, these tend to be smaller, less showy, and nodding, to protect them from the elements. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Hellebores
These are very popular winter bloomers. Hellebore atrorubrens blooms mid winter with dark maroon flowers, and at the same time, the Christmas Rose, H. niger, has whitish blooms. Late in winter the Lenten Rose, H. orientalis, blooms, with colors from creamy white to darkest plum.

Winter Aconite
Eranthis hyemalis has late winter yellow blooms.

Crocus
There are many crocus species which bloom late in winter. Crocus chrysanthus ‘Lady Killer’ has white a purple-blue pointed petals. C. tomasinianus ‘Ruby Giant’ has deep red-purple flowers.     crocuses
Snowdrops
All the Galanthus species have white flowers. A legend from Germany says the snowdrop gave its color to the snow after all of the other flowers refused to share their color. So the snow shelters the flower and keeps it warm through the winter.

Winter Heath
There are many varieties of Erica carnea that bloom throughout the winter, and many also have lovely plum or bronze colored foliage.

Algerian Iris
Iris unguicularis has smallish lilac blooms throughout winter.

Winter Sweet
Chimonathus praecox is a large shrub which flowers in mid winter. The flowers have a grayish tint, and the petals are transparent.

Winter Honeysuckle
Lonicera standishii blooms early in winter, L. fragrantissima blooms late. The flowers are creamy white.

Witch Hazel
A few Hamamelis species flower mid winter. H. japonica has twisty yellow flowers. H. x intermedia ‘Jelena’ has yellow flowers which are tinted coppery-red. Witch hazel rods have been used for water divining.

Daphne
Daphne mezereum is a deciduous shrub which has rosy purple flowers on leafless branches in late winter. D. odora has glossy leaves and red-purple flowers in mid winter.

Winter Jasmine
Jasminum nudiflorum has bright yellow flowers all winter.

Viburnum
The viburnums have clusters of flowers on leafless branches throughout the winter. Viburnum farreri is white; V. x bodnantense has pink flowers.

There are many books written exclusively for winter (and for autumn) gardening, and many garden planning books will have a special section for winter plants. The winter has been a season long neglected by gardeners, but definitely offers many possibilities.

Not strictly a “gothic” topic (well, unless you think dead fetuses are gothic) but definitely a macabre one….

Medieval Midwife at WorkThe old herbalists had quite a few ideas that were not very scientific, such as the Doctrine of Signatures. According to this Doctrine, if a plant looked like a certain part of the body, then it was good for curing maladies of that part of the body. Hence, Lungwort looked like lung tissue, and it *must* be good for treating lung ailments. However, despite ideas like this, the ancient herbalists (and those called witches) did get quite a few things right. Science has confirmed, in many cases, that the plants used to cure disease did, in fact, contain compounds that were medicinally valuable. A well-known example of this is foxglove, long a staple of the witch’s garden, from which modern medicine extracted digitalis, a valuable heart drug.

Long before modern contraceptives were synthesized, women attempted to control their reproductive systems using plants. Often this meant inducing abortion– certain herbs were known to have abortifacient properties. These herbs have two main methods of action. The first involves stimulating the blood flow to the pelvic area and uterus(emmenagogues); the second involves imitating oxytocin, the hormone which is responsible for uterine contractions. These are often the same herbs which were used by midwives to facilitate labor, and knowledge of the plants could very well get you burned as a witch.

Note: I’ve stolen many of the doses of the these herbs directly from the alt.folklore.herbs FAQ. However, I have left out some of the information presented on toxicity and contraindications. If you seriously consider using any of these herbs, do your research first!!!!!

Pennyroyal-Mentha pulegium or Hedeoma pulegiodes (American Pennyroyal)
Pennyroyal is probably the best known of the abortifacient herbs, since in 1970 two women died from taking the essential oil internally. The herb is safe to use internally, even though the essential oil is extremely toxic and should only be used externally. Herb dose: 1/4 cup of herb to 1 quart water once a day for no more than 6 days. Essential oil: can be rubbed over the pelvic region (but not near the vaginal lips) to stimulate menstruation and ease cramps.    pennyroyal

Tansy-Tanacetum vulgare
Another emmenegogue, tansy is also used for expelling worms in the GI tract. Herb dosage: Tea, 4-8 teaspoons per qt. sipped throughout day. Tincture: 10 drops in warm water every two hours til bleeding commences, for no more than 5 days.     tansy

Black Cohosh Root-Cimicifuga racemosa
Well, I’m not sure whether black cohosh is the emmenagogue and blue cohosh is the oxytocin imitator, or the other way around, since I’ve seen them listed both ways. They are usually used together, though, and seem to have a synergistic effect. Herb dosage: 3 teaspoons per cup, 4 times a day. Tincture: 20 drops every 6 hours.

Blue Cohosh root-Caulophyllum thalictroides
Like black cohosh, this herb was used by Native Americans and the early settlers. The active chemical is caulosaponin. Herb dosage: 3 teaspoons herb per cup, 3 cups per day Tincture: 20 drops every 4 hours, for six days or til bleeding commences.     blue cohosh

Cotton Root Bark-Gossypium herbacetum
While I’m not sure where you could find this, cotton root bark is supposed to be a powerful abortifacient. Slave women would use this often, and slave owners who knew of this practice would force the women to drink black haw tonics every day to prevent abortion. Herb dosage: 12 teaspoons per quart, 1/2 – 1 quart through day. Tincture: 10 drops every few hours until bleeding commences, for no more than 6 days.

Ginger-Zingiber officinale
While ginger can be used to promote menstruation, there is no evidence it causes miscarriages, and is often taken in pregnancy for morning sickness. Dose: 1 oz. fresh or dry root to pint of water.

Angelica root-Angelica archangelica
Angelica is an emmenagogue and oxytocic herb that has been used for “menstrual irregularities”, to ease cramps, to aid expulsion of the afterbirth, and to relieve congestion in the pelvic region. Herb dosage: 1/4 cup herb to 1 quart water as tea. Tincture: 10-20 drops every two hours. The dried root is less toxic than fresh. Be careful if you are harvesting wild angelica because it can be confused with poison hemlock (which is toxic in any amount)[1].    angelica

Mugwort-Artemisia vulgaris
An emmenagogue, mugwort is considered an excellent uterine stimulant, and used for regulating the cycles of young women. I’ve seen all Artemisia species listed as abortifacients. Herb dosage: 3 teaspoon per cup tea, 3 cups per day, for no more than six days.

Rue-Ruta graveolens
Another powerful abortifacient, although I don’t know the method of action. It is also used to stop spasms of the digestive system or spasmodic coughs.    rue

Motherwort-Leonurus cardiaca
This herb contains leonurine and stachydrine, which both promote uterine contractions.

Trillium root-Trillium spp.
This herb can start labor by itself, although it is usually used to prepare the uterus for childbirth before using stronger herbs. Herb dosage: Tea 3 teaspoons per cup, 1 quart per day. Tincture 30 drops 3-4 times a day. Rare in the wild–Do not harvest!

Parsley-Petroselinum crispum
Supposedly can be used as a vaginal insert to stimulate menstruation.

Wild Carrot Seed-Daucus carota
This is used as for contraception, possibly working by preventing implantation. However, if you harvest wild seed, be careful as many related plants are extremely poisonous and look very similar. This plant is also known as Queen Anne’s Lace. Dosage: 1 teaspoon a day chewed and washed down with fluid [1].

Juniper-Juniperus communis
Also known as savin, this plant had the country name of ‘bastard killer’. When Mary Hamilton, one of Mary Queen of Scots’ ladies-in-waiting, became pregnant:

She’s gone to the garden gay
To pu’ of the savin tree
But for a’ that she could say or do
The babie it would not die

The recipe called for 5 sprigs in 1/2 pint boiling water, and leave to soak in a wineglass for four consecutive mornings. Then put a sprig into each boot and wear for nine days. When the feet get hot the poison soaks into the foot.

Some other herbs I’ve seen listed as abortifacients:

* Yarrow-Achillia millefolium
* Poke Root-Phytolacca americanium
* Mayapple-Podophyllum pelatum
* Mistletoe-Viscum album
* Feverfew-Chrysanthemum parthenium
* Thuja leaf-Thuja occidentalis
* Sage-Salvia officinalis

…and I’m sure there are many others.

Unfortunately, I’ve read that herbal abortion is not terribly effective. Often women have poisoned themselves in the attempt to self-abort. Please don’t try any of these herbs without first researching them carefully. And since some of these may have debilitating effects on the embryo/fetus, please don’t attempt an herbal abortion if you don’t plan to follow up with a clinical abortion, in case the herbal method fails.

Unlike the modern aphorism, ‘You can’t take it with you’, most cultures around the world did a great deal to make the transition into the Afterworld comfortable for the being in question, which meant including objects in the grave which would travel with the person. These objects were often of a person nature, and would include stones, artifacts, minerals, shells, vessels, amulets, food, and drugs. The Neanderthals of Shanidar put flowers in graves 60,000 years ago. To help you with the selection of plant material that you would like included in your gravesite with you, here are plants that have traditionally been included in graves from cultures all around the world. Many of these plants have interesting properties, which makes them valuable while you’re still alive, too.

Beans
Beans of some sort were part of belief systems just about everywhere in the world. They were considered guardians of life energy and food of the gods. Many beans have ‘magical effects’, and as such, had cults surrounding them, such as the mezcal bean. Other beans were used as death charms, such as jequirity, which was ground and then brushed across the threshold of a house. The person entering barefoot would then die. Bean fetish objects were often included in graves.

Cedar
This was used by the Egyptians for magical cosmetics and perfumes, incense, and to embalm mummies. It was also venerated by the Romans and the ancient Mesopotamians. In his Herbal, Dioscorides called cedar “the life of death”.

Colorines
The Aztecs associated colorines with sacrificial death. They carved figures of their gods from the wood, and used the beans as an aphrodisiac and for producing dreams.

Ephedra
One of the oldest magical plants known to man, ephedra was used in the Iranian Haoma cult, Tantric moon rituals, orgiastic Saturnalia, and N.A. Indian vision quests. Consequently, the leaves of this plant were often included in the funerary goods.

Guayusa
This type of holly grows in Ecuador, and has been found in graves there dating from 500 BC. The leaves were found in medicine bags, along with snuff pipes. This plant is supposed to give strength and auspicious dreams, and is used as an emetic and enema.

Hemp
While I would never suggest that anyone grow this (oh no, never. really.) hemp is one of oldest cultivated plants. It was originally grown in China, and has been used by almost every culture in Asia, Africa, and Europe. It’s medicinal and inebriant uses are well known.

Lotus
The lotus flower is a symbol of perfection, immortality, and enlightenment. The roots and seeds were used as amulets.

Maize
The Maya say that maize has the greatest life energy of any plant. Dried kernels are used as oracles and worn as amulets. Maize supposedly has the power to dispel demons.

Maté
Maté Yerba shrub leaves were found in pre-Columbian graves in the Andes. The leaves were placed in gourds lined with silver, so the dead could make maté tea and remain awake on their journey to the afterlife.

Poppy
This was one of the plants, along with henbane, thornapple, and tobacco, which later became associated with witches. However, poppy capsules have been found in archaeological sites in Switzerland which belong to the Lake Dwellers, and are 4000 years old.

Prickly Poppy
Aztecs thought that ‘all poisonous plants are eaten in the underworld, and all who go there eat prickly poppy’. This is a medicinal plant with many uses.

San Pedro Cactus
A Peruvian plant, also found in pre-Columbian graves, which was used for traveling to unseen worlds.

Tobacco
Originally a New World plant, it was adopted into magical ceremonies all over the world. Mayan temples and pyramids are decorated with images of the plant and their gods smoking tobacco. It was an important inclusion in pre-Columbian graves.

Boxwood
Now used mainly as a hedge, sprigs of boxwood were found in three early Roman coffins (probably a local custom). Much later, the English used boxwood at funerals. The custom was to leave sprays of it next to the door so that people could take a spray and throw in into the grave at the appropriate time.

Juniper
The coffin juniper, Juniperus recurva var. coxii, has a resinous wood that is used for Buddhist incense and for, obviously, making coffins. The Greeks burned juniper berries at funerals to repel demons.

Queen Anne’s Lace
If brought into the house, snakes will follow it. In Yorkshire, this is known as Mother Die, or Stepmother’s Blessing, since if it’s brought into the house, your mother will die.

Bindweed
This was also known as Thunder Flower, since if you picked it, it would thunder before the day was out. This power was also ascribed to the poppy.

Hawthorn
Besides its association with fairies, this plant was considered bad luck in the house, since it either indicated a sore throat, or a dead child.

May Flower
This bad luck flower, if picked, meant you wouldn’t get an apple crop, and that it would rain all summer long.

White Heather
This was considered unlucky by Scottish loyalists because of its connection with the banishment of Bonny Prince Charles.

Mimosa
In the house, it is considered a forewarning of disaster.

Herb Robert
If picked, snakes emerged from the stem.

Primroses
It was considered unlucky to pick these if it was before the chicks hatched, since the number of primrose blossoms picked indicated the number of chicks that would be born from each clutch. So if you picked primroses, you had to pick a lot. Thirteen was considered the optimal number.

Blackthorn
This is unlucky to pick because a scratch will cause blood poisoning.

Stag’s Horn Sumac
If this is growing in the garden, it brings marital strife. The same is said of Matrimony vine.

Ivy
Ivy is unlucky as a gift, and a person who keeps ivy will always be poor. The saying in Ireland is ‘The house where ivy grows will surely fall.’ Ivy may be brought in as Christmas decorations, but if it is not removed by Candlemas, death will visit the household.

Blackberries
These cannot be picked after Michaelmas, since after that day they ‘have the devil in them’.

Elder
In Ireland, it was thought an Elder tree growing in the yard made the inhabitants prone to consumption.

Broom (the plant, not the cleaning implement)
If brought into the house, it ‘sweeps someone out’.

Speedwell
If you pick the flowers, birds will come and pick your eyes out.

Privet
It was rumored that privet leaves were one of the sources of diphtheria.

Sassafras
If you burn the wood, and it cracks and sputters, then someone will die.

Gray Pine
This is called the ‘Unlucky Tree’ because anyone who stands underneath it will misfortune befall them. It is supposed to affect women more.

Puff-Ball
These are thought to be poisonous to the touch, to give you the itch, or if the powder gets in your eyes, to blind you.

Bog Ashphodel
This is considered unlucky because it ‘softens the bones’.

Sundew
Also known as ‘Red Rot’ because it ‘rotteth sheep’.

Innocence
If you gather the flowers of this plant, it will make you wet the bed. The same is said of dandelions.

Moonwort
This plant had the country name of Unshoe-the-Horse, because it was thought that any horse that trod upon it would become unshod. This was also a property of Rest Harrow and Horseshoe Vetch.

Lavender
If it thrives in the garden, the young ladies of the house will never marry.

Crocus
An Austrian superstition says that if you pick crocus blossoms they will draw away your strength and make you weak.

Cyclamen
It was considered unlucky for a pregnant woman to even step on the plant for it could cause her to have the baby early.

Snowdrops
Snowdrop in the house is considered a ‘death token’ by English housewives who thought that the blossom looked like ‘a corpse in the shroud, and that it always kept itself close to the earth, seeming to belong more to the dead than to the living.’

Cuckoo Pint
If young girls touch it, they will become pregnant. The Cuckoo-flower, also known as Lady’s Smock, was also considered unlucky because it was associated with the Devil.

Rampion
Campanula rapunculus, besides being the bellflower that caused Rapunzel all her problems, will cause your children to be quarrelsome if grown in your garden.

Pansy
English folklore holds that to pick a pansy with the dew still on it will cause the death of a loved one. Pansies were considered by Victorians to be a bad luck gift for a man.

Violets
To carry violets (or snowdrops or primroses) into the house when they first bloomed was considered bad luck. And violets (or roses) which bloom in fall indicate an epidemic the following year.

Peony
Peonies are thought to be protected by woodpeckers, and if you gather the flowers for medicinal purposes while a woodpecker is in sight, the patient will die.

Columbine
Besides being the symbol of folly, a gift of columbines to a woman was considered bad luck.

Sage
It’s considered bad luck to plant sage in your own garden; a stranger should be found to plant it for you. A entire bed of sage without any other plants in it was also considered bad luck.

There were many plants generally associated with ill luck or death, such as beefsteak geraniums, cacti (in Hungary), lilacs, and any flower usually associated with funerals, such as chrysanthemums or lilies. The Germans believe that no flowers should be placed in the mouth of a corpse, because the dead man would chew on them and then become a ‘Nachzehrer’ who draws his relatives into the grave after him. It is unlucky to pick up flowers which have dropped on the ground. And any flower that blooms out of season is considered ‘touched by the devil’.

Let’s get one thing straight here, fairies are not cute. Shakespeare made them seem cute, and Disney finished off the job (sorry, Heather, but it’s true). The Fey are capricious, mischievous, arrogant, menacing, and sometimes downright evil and dangerous to humans. The Fey include elves, fairies, gnomes, trolls, goblins, and a host of other supernatural beings who are somewhere ‘between men and angels’. Almost all of these beings have a very close connection to nature.

Rosemary
Sicilians thought that this was a favorite plant of the fairies, and that young fairies would take the form of snakes and lie amongst the branches, and the baby fairies would sleep in the flowers.

Ragwort
Also known as St. John’s Wort, this plant has a strong connection with the fey. In Ireland, it’s called Fairy’s horse, since supposedly fairies would ride through the air on it. Leprechauns are supposed to have buried their treasure underneath the roots of this plant. And on the Isle of Man, there is the belief that if you stepped upon a ragwort plant on St. John’s eve after sunset, a fairy horse would spring up out of the earth and carry you off until sunrise, at which time it would leave you wherever you happened to be.

Elder
Almost all trees are home to some sort of elven kind, including elm, oak, willow, yew, fir, holly, etc. However, elder trees have the highest elf population. The Elder Mother who dwells within the tree is very protective of her domain, and it is taboo to cut part of the tree without asking her permission first. Stories tell of the Elder Mother tormenting children who were in cradles of elderwood (which had not been asked for) by pulling them by the legs. The chant for asking permission is:

Old Woman, Old Woman,
Give me some of your wood
And when I am dead
I’ll give you some of mine

And if you stand under an elder tree at midnight on Midsummer eve in Denmark, you will see Toly, the King of the Elves, go by.

Oak
In Germany, this is the fairies’ favorite dwelling place, and they are especially fond of dancing around it.

Barley
A common grain, but one of the main foods of the fairy. Fairies would often borrow oatmeal from storehouses, and returned a double measure of barley as repayment.

Silverweed
Also known as silver cinquefoil, the roots of this plant were another of the fairies’ favorite foods, which they called brisgein. However, it likes to grow in marshy areas, so cultivating it might be a problem.

Heather
This is another of the fairies’ favorite foods.

Wild Thyme
Another herb that was thought to be home to fairies, since they liked the aromatic flowers, and spend their leisure time among them. If you picked the flowers from a patch of wild thyme where the little folk did live, and placed them on your eyes, you would be able to see the fey.

Cowslip
This flower is also known as Fairy Cups in Lincolnshire, and was often a hiding place for frightened fairies. At dawn, as the light shines on the dewdrops, the fairies “hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.”

Ferns
This plant was guarded by Oberon on Midsummer night, since this is when the fern would flower–a beautiful sapphire blue–and Oberon wanted to prevent mortals from obtaining the fern seed. If you managed to collect it despite him, you would be under the protection of spirits, and while you carried the seed it would render you invisible.

Clover
Finding a four-leafed clover grants you a wish, and gives you the power to see the fairies dancing in their fairy rings. This is also the main ingredient of fairy ointment, which gives you the power to penetrate the fairies’ glamour and see them as they truly are. Be careful, though: if you unknowingly carry a four-leafed clover (in a bundle of grass) the fairies have the power to enchant you.

Foxglove
The flowers serve as petticoats for the fairies and in Ireland, they serve as fairies’ gloves. Also, flowers are used as thimbles when fairies mend their clothing.

Furze Bushes
The cobwebs collected on its branches are used to make fairies’ mantles.

Stichwort
In Devonshire, people do not pick this for fear they be “pixy led.” Held in special honor by fairies.

Strawberries
In Bavaria, fairies are very fond of strawberries and peasants will tie a basket of them between cows’ horns to assure an abundance of milk.

Rose
In Germany and Scandinavia, this plant is under special protection of dwarfs and elves, both who are ruled by King Laurin, Lord of the Rose Garden.

Cabbage stalks
Also serve as transportation for fairies, who ride these like horses.

Cuscuta Epithymum
In Jersey, known as “Fairies’ Hair.”

Peziza Coccinea
Used for fairies’ hats.

Elecampane
In Denmark, this is known as ‘Elf-Dock’.

Toadstools
These are thought to be ‘Stylized Pixy Stools’ and in the north of Wales are called ‘Fairy Tables’.

Pyrus Japonica
Used as kindling for fairy fires.

Tulips
The flowers are used as cradles for fairy children. A folktale from Devon tells of a woman who grew many tulips in her garden because she once went out at night and saw the babes sleeping in them. After she died, the man who moved into her cottage dug up all the tulips because he thought they were useless, and instead planted vegetables and parsley. This so enraged the fairies that every night they would dance on the vegetables and tear their roots out of the ground and shred the parsley leaves. Only on the woman’s grave were the tulips still big and beautiful and fragrant. In time, though, the grave became forgotten, the tulips were trampled, and the fairies withdrew far away. Since then, tulips have lost their size and splendor.

Wood Anemone
Shelters fairies in wet weather.

Wood Sorrel
From Wales, its white flowers are known as “fairy bells” and are used to summon fairies to their reveries.

Mallow
The fruit of this plant is called “Fairy Cheeses” in the North of England.

Nightwort
Evil elves prepare poison in this plant. It is also one of the sacred plants of the Dutch Alven, along with elf-leaf, which they watered and strengthened against the coming day. The Alven would sicken or kill people or cattle that touched the plants.

Globe Flower
Also called the “Troll Flower”, trolls are supposed to unlock the flower at night and drop venom in the cup to poison dairymaids and herdsmen.

Hawthorn
In Brittany and Ireland, also called “Fairy Thorn”, this tree is the trysting place of fairies. To pick a branch or leaf from a hawthorn is to court the displeasure of the fairies.

Wormwood
This is ‘Dian’s Bud’ which Oberon used to remove the enchantment from Titania. Wormwood is also protection against the Rusalky of Russia, who will tickle you to death if they find you in the woods without some of this in your pockets.

Flax
The flowers are not only protection against sorcery, but also are beloved of Queen Hulda, who leads a procession through the valley between Kroppbuhl and Unterlassen while the flax is blooming. Fairy-flax is used by the fairies to weave all their linen. Poludnitsa, the Noon Woman, interrogates women she finds in the flax fields at noon, to make sure they know how to cultivate and spin flax. If they answer incorrectly, she kills them.

To prepare a sleeping place for Queen Titania, you should plant these flowers:

‘Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight.’

Any fruit out of season or remaining after the harvest is the property of the fairies. In the West of England, strays are left to assure fairy goodwill. Fairies, like witches, don’t like yellow flowers and will go out of their way to avoid them.

Many thanks to my gothic garden researcher, Anagram…..

And for the less dark side of the fae, visit The Faery Garden, a much more complete page than this….

Bloodroot
This plant has clusters of blue-green foliage and small white flowers. The root was used for burn poultices, digestive remedies, and to loosen phlegm. Too much, however, is deadly. This has the pleasant scientific name of Sanguinaria.

Bleeding Heart
The leaves of this plant are fern-like, and the flowers hang from arched branches. Two of the petals of the flower are pink and form the shape of a puff heart, while the other two smaller petals seem to “bleed” from the puff.    Bleeding Heart

Bleeding Heart vine
From a completely different family than the Bleeding Heart bush, Clerodendrum thomsonae has clusters of blooms that have a white ‘puff’ with a small crimson flower hanging down from the puff. This is also known as Glory Bower.     Bleeding Heart Vine or Glory Bower

Dragon’s Blood Sedum
This plant is a succulent, only 3 or 4 in tall, that forms a dense mat. In summer, it’s covered with star-shaped crimson flowers. In autumn, the deep green foliage takes on a maroonish cast.

Sacred Heart Cathedral Gladiolus
The blooms on the spike of this gladiolus are white with a rich burgundy-red center. The spikes are up to 22 inches high, with 20 or more flowers on each one.

Blood Berries
In summer, these have small, nondescript flowers, but by autumn there are profuse clusters of pea-sized red berries.

Heartseed
Also known as the cloyingly sweet Love-in-a-Puff, the scientific name is Cardiospermum, and is derived from the fact that the seed pod can be popped to reveal black seeds with a white heart mark.

Love-Lies-Bleeding
The flowers are long, dangling ropes of tiny deep burgundy blossoms. These rich, wine-colored tassels cascade off of a leafy vine. In medieval times, these flowers were thought to represent incorruptibility.

String of Hearts
Also known as the Rosary Vine, this vine has fleshy, purple, heart-shaped leaves, which are marbled with silver.

Blood Lily
This bulb,Haemanthus , produces an 8″ scarlet sphere. The sphere is made up of hundred of small scarlet florets. These are very easy to take care of, since they apparently thrive on neglect.    Blood Lily

Blood Flower
Asclepias curassavica has clusters of ten or so orange-red flowers. The genus name is derived from the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios, and this plant can be used to induce vomiting and to expel worms.    Blood Flower

Aerlie Red Flesh Apple
Just what it says, this is an apple with red flesh in the fruit. Bill’s Red Flesh is also available.

‘King’s Blood’ Tulips
Radiant red tulips that deepen color at the petal edges.

Blood Leaf
This plant, Iresine lindenii, is a native of Ecuador. It can grow up to two feet high and has narrow, pointed leaves that are deep red.

Bloodvein Sage
The gray-green leaves of this sage have red veins, hence the name.

Bloody Butcher Ornamental Corn
Also known as ‘Red Stalker’, this corn has beautiful red stalks and husks. The cobs have wine-red kernels, with a sprinkling of darker ones.

Blood-red Crane’s-Bill
This geranium forms dense, foot high mounds of foliage which turns bright red in the fall. The flowers, present all throughout the summer, are red-purple.

Blood-leafed Japanese Maple
Japanese maples are one of my favorite trees, and Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’ has deep purplish-red leaves and is cold tolerant.

Japanese Blood Grass
Imperata ‘Red Baron’ is a brilliant red grass, about 2 foot high. It would make a striking border.    Blood Grass

Venus Fly Trap
The perennial favorite. Its little traps with the long bristles on the sides are known by everyone.

Pitcher Plants
There are several different genuses that contain pitcher plants. The premise is simple: a long tube, with fluid in the bottom, that traps insects and digests them. The pitchers can range in size from 1 to 3 feet. The California Pitcher Plant, also known as the Cobra Lily, has a particularly spectacular pitcher, since the tops are domed and dotted with translucent windows, and the tube twists around. The edge of the dome has a beard which is forked like a snake’s tongue. .

Sundews
The leaves of sundews are covered with prominent red-stalked hairs, which exude a sticky red droplet at the end. When an insect tries to feed on this droplet, it gets stuck, and its struggles cause more and more of the tentacles to bend towards it. The insect is finally smothered, and then digested by the leaf.

Butterworts
Lesser well known than the former three plants, these have leaves which secrete a sticky substance which attracts insects. Once the insect is stuck, the leaf rolls inward and the digestive enzymes are secreted.

Yuck, what’s that smell?
Plants are very ingenious….not all plants are pollinated by bees and moths and butterflies….many use bats, flies, or even snails or slugs.

Devil’s Tongue
The latin name of this plant is Amorphophallus. The blooms open once they reach a height of 8½ feet, and they have a gigantic fleshy pale-green spike in the center. The flower itself is maroon colored. The scent of the flower is said to resemble decaying fish, which attracts the insect that pollinates these flowers- the fly.

Dragon Lily
The flower of this plant is green on the outside, purple-black on the inside, and have a 1½ foot purple spike projecting from the center. Since it is related to the Devil’s Tongue, it too is pollinated by flies, and its odor is of dung.

Voodoo Lily
Yet another relative of the Devil’s Tongue, this one is less malodorous. The flower is greenish on the outside and yellowish with purple blotches on the inside. The spike emerging from the flower is purple and is known as the lizard’s tail.

Zulu-giant Stapelia
The flower is sixteen inches across, and has five ochre yellow petals that are ridged in crimson and have fine purple hairs. The plant is only five to eight inches high, so the size of these flowers is actually quite amazing, aside from the fact they are an interior decorator’s nightmare. The scent is of rotten fruit.

Cast-iron plant
The member of the Aspidistras has innocuous green foliage and small purple flowers borne near the ground. The odor has been described as the smell of bad breath….this is to attract the pollinator, the slug.

Hey, come here, I’ve got something to show you…
These plants are the photosynthetic equivalent of the joy buzzer.

Squirting Cucumber
This is just what it says it is. The leaves of this vine are green and fuzzy, like cucumber vine leaves. The vine bears a green fuzzy fruit about two inches long, which squirts out seeds in a stream of watery fluid when you touch it.

Artillery Plant
This is a sort of fern-like plant, which has flowers that shed pollen explosively, like a small cannon.

That has got to be the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen!
All of these plants are just generally weird or gothic looking, not likely to appeal to someone with a mundane taste in carnations.

Dracula Orchids
(obligatory vampire reference)These orchids actually have the genus name of Dracula. The blossom of one of these orchids has three triangular petals, each about three inches at the base, which then have long tails. The petals surround a movable pink center cup. The petals themselves are tan with maroon splotches and gray fur.

Bat Plant
The blossoms of this plants are many-petaled and black, and surrounded by a multitude of black whiskers, which are about eight inches long. These have been described as “sinister”, and are also known as magician’s flower or cat’s whiskers.
Living Stones
Several genuses of plants are known as living stones. These are all succulents who have solitary or clump-forming leaves which are very swollen and fleshy so that they appear rock-like.

Celosia
Also known as Cock’s Comb, the crested type of this flower can have combs that are nine or ten inches across, and combined with the “furry” appearance of the flower, makes it look like a hot pink (or red or yellow) brain.

Serpent Gourds
These grow on vines that can reach up to a hundred feet, and the flowers, which don’t last for more than a day, are white and have long, curling fringe on the edge of the petals. The gourds themselves are greenish, and are long and coiled, reaching lengths of up to six feet.

Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick
A nice tree to plant outside your conservatory window, in the winter when all the leaves are gone, it is quite a sight with its fantastically twisted, turned and corkscrew-like branches. It has pendulous catkins which become prominent as spring approaches.