The Poisonous Garden of Death

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Erin Chapman in Morbid Planet // 0 Comments

The Poison Garden located in Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Picture: Graeme Peacock, Alnwick Castle.

This article was originally published on Morbid Planet on August 13, 2018.

How would you like to visit a garden where every plant can potentially kill you? The gardens at Alnwick Castle in England have such a thing and you can actually go on a tour through this morbid attraction for only 16£!

The garden was apparently created back in 1750 by the 1st Duke of Northumberland and flourished until it was closed in 1950 after being used to provide provisions for people during the second world war.

The garden was revived back in 1997 by Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberlan and opened to the public in 2001. The Poison Garden was added in 2004. The gardens get roughly 800,000 visitors per year.

Visitors can go on a small guided tour of the Poison Garden of 20 people or less. Picture: Margaret Whittaker, Alnwick Castle.

As you can see from the photo, some of the plants are in the open and some are in cages for protection.

Make sure you don’t try to visit in the winter time as Alnwick Castle is only open daily between 29th March and 28th October 2018.

I contacted the castle directly and they supplied me with a list of 97 types of plants that they currently showcase in the Poison Garden. See below:

Aconitum lycotonum (Wolfsbane)
Actaea spicata (Black Baneberry)
Aristolochia longa (Birthwort)
Arum italicum (Marmoratum)
Bulbocodium vernum (Spring Meadow Saffron)
Chelidonium majus (Greater Celandine)
Colchicum autumnale – mauve and white doubles
Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley)
Cynoglossum officinale (Hound’s Tongue)
Daphne laureola (Spurge Laurel)
Daphne mezereum (Mezereon)
Brugmansia suaveolens (Angel’s Trumpet)
Echium vulgare (Viper’s Bugloss)
Fritillaria – imperialis and meleagris (Fritillary)
Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrop)
Helleborus foetidus (Stinking Hellebore)
Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell)
Leucojum aestivum (Snowflake)
Lithospermum officinale (Gromwell)
Mercuriali sperennis (Dog’s Mercury)
Narcissus pseudonnarciss, ‘Tresamble’ bulbocodium
Oenanthe crocata (Hemlock Water Dropwort)
Prunus laurocerasus (Laurel)
Rheum rhaponticum (Rhubarb)
Rumex obtusifolius (Broad-leaved dock)
Scutellaria lateriflora (Virginian Skullcap)
Senecio jacobaea (Ragwort)
Solanum dulcamara (Woody Nightshade)
Symphoricarpus albus (Snowberry)
Symphytum officinale (Comfrey)
Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata Aureomarginata’ (Yew)
Viscum album (Mistletoe)
Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove)
Veratrum album (White False Mottlebare)
Helleborus niger (Christmas Rose)
Digitalis purpurea ‘Alba’
Aconitum napellus (Monk’s Hood)
Vinca major (Periwinkle)
Polygonatum odoratum (Salomon’s Seal)
Cimicifuga racemosa (Bugbane)
Helleborus cyclophyllus
Veratrum nigrum
Digitalis ferruginea
Aquilegia atrata
Helleborus purpurascens
Atropa belladonna (Deadly Nightshade)
Dracunculcus vulgaris
Helleborus niger
Bryonia dioica
Polygonatum odaratum
Papaver somniferum
Aconitum napellus
Artemisia absinthium
Ruta graveolens
Helleborus orientalis
Foeniculum vulgari
Pulsatilla vulgari
Lolium temulentum
Ranunculus acris ‘Multiplex’
Lactuca serriola
Vinca Major
Helleborus ‘Early Purple’
Atropa mandragora
Euphorbia x martini
Aquelegia alpina
Papaver somniferum
Pulmonaria angustifolia (Blue Ensign)
Ricinus communis
Foeniculum vulgare (Giant Bronze)
Nicotiana sylvetris
Artemesia absinthium
Conium maculatum
Rosmarinus officinalis
Papaver somniferum
Hyoscyamis niger
Nepta faassenii ‘Six Hills Giant’
Menta pulegium
Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gelber Herold’
Verbascum olympicum

Plants Under Cloches:

Cannabis sativa
Catha edulis
Erythroxylum coca
Heracleum mantegazzianum
Psilocybe semilanceata
Strychnos nux-vomica

Solitary Plants:

Euonymus Europeaus
Nerium oleander
Hippophae rhamnoides
Ilex aquifolium ‘Alaska’
Juniperus anagyroides
Malus ‘John Downie’
Mespilus germanica
Salix alba ‘Liempde’
Vitex-Agnus — castus

Hedges:

Buxus sempervirens
Hedera helix ‘Hibernica’

Climbers/Vines:

Clematis vitalba

If you would like an idea of what the garden looks like close up and see some of the plants from the list, check out the video BBC posted in 2017 on BBC Earth Unplugged.

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/2oCWAiqL0i0″ width=”940″ height=”460″]

Location: The Alnwick Garden, The Gardeners Cottage, Greenwell Road, Alnwick, Northumberland, England.

You can view their website here for more details.

[su_button url=”https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Alnwick+Castle,+Alnwick+NE66+1NQ,+UK/@55.4155828,-1.7081091,17z/data=!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x487e00e0ed23bc0d:0x8783a98b290f641!2m2!1d-1.7059204!2d55.4155828″ target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#dd3333″ color=”#000000″ size=”13″ center=”yes”]Find this deathly destination now![/su_button]

Notes:

was closed in 1950: Wikipedia. “The Alnwick Garden.” Last modified June 18, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alnwick_Garden.
800,000 visitors: Lauren McMah, “Welcome to the Alnwick Poison Garden, where everything wants to kill you,” news.com.au, May 14, 2016, accessed August 12, 2018, https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ideas/weird-and-wacky/welcome-to-the-alnwick-poison-garden-where-everything-wants-to-kill-you/news-story/ccc8673fe95c00b2f5a693640354d560.
“Deadliest Garden in the World|Earth Unplugged,” YouTube video, 6:35, posted by BBC Earth Unplugged, September 29, 2017, accessed August 12, 2018, https://youtu.be/2oCWAiqL0i0.
All photos were supplied by Alnwick Castle.