13 DAYS OF FRIGHTFUL FRAGRANCES: DAY 2 A GARDEN OF POISONS

An ancient castle

A garden stroll might be a great way to relax, but don’t let your guard down when visiting the Poison Garden of Alnwick Castle.

Behind these ominous iron gates grow creeping labernum and hedges of laurel the plant that many use for hedges that also produces cyanide.

Poisonous plants

The most poisonous plant in the garden is the castor bean plant which produces Ricin but the garden also boasts belladonna also known as deadly night shade, wolfsbane, and henbane. Henbane in particular emits a fragrance so pungent that over the years many people have actually passed out in the garden so a bench was installed for people to recover.

Other deadly plants emitting fragrance are oleander, jasmine, and opium poppy.

A stateside poison garden

If you can’t make it across the pond to Alnwick, the veterinary school at the university of Illinois maintains a Poisonous Plant Garden with a lot of the same plants. What I think is so interesting about this one is that the mission is to teach veterinary students and the general public plant identification not only to ensure human safety but also the safety of our animal friends.

Perfumes inspired by poisonous plants

Perfume and poison have been linked since antiquity, you can check out my playlist featuring more videos on this, but if you’re interested in a poison inspired perfume you’ll want to check out Parfums Quartana’s line Les Potiones Fatales

It includes: Wolfsbane, Hemlock, Venetian Belladonna, and Digitales

Of those the Venetian Belladonna is my favorite.

Stay tuned for day 3!