The Alnwick Garden Releases First A-Z of Poisonous Plants Book
The Alnwick Garden has launched the first fully comprehensive guide to its famous Poison Garden in a new A-Z book of Poisonous Plants.
Retailing at £15, the 224-page unique and educational book aims to shed light on a host of deadly, dangerous and downright bizarre plants, including some that can be found in your own back garden.
Offering readers a comprehensive guide to their history, uses, and potential dangers, the newly released A-Z book was put together collectively by The Garden’s horticulturalists and poisonous plant specialists, and explores the many species that inhabit the ‘deadly’ garden. From the familiar and widely known to the obscure and exotic, the book presents an extensive range of plants that have the potential to kill.
Author of the book, and brand and media manager at The Alnwick Garden, Fiona Mitcheson, said: “We wanted to create something that would enable readers and visitors to embark on an educational journey through each letter of the alphabet, discovering the plants that we have in The Poison Garden, as well as those that can be found out in nature like Belladonna, Hemlock, Hogweed and Foxglove, to name a few.
“The book provides detailed descriptions of each plant's physical characteristics and toxic properties, as well as cautionary anecdotes and historical references, so that people can be aware when they are out and about in nature and know when to be cautious.”
With toxic plants inhabiting nature parks and forests across England, the educational book has been intentionally released before schools break up for summer. This way, adults can help educate their children to recognise the species that could cause them harm, and in doing so, keep themselves safe. Hogweed, for example, is prevalent across the UK and causes a blistering of the skin, its effects lasting several years, and everyday flowers such as daffodils and lilies also contain lycorine, which can be lethal if ingested.
Ms Mitcheson continued: “Many people aren’t aware that simple everyday flowers or wild plants found in their garden or local park can be dangerous to pets and humans. So, by creating this book, we hope it gives people a bit more of an idea of how to identify these plants and the potential risks they pose.”
Every year, over 100 people faint on the guided tours of Alnwick’s Poison Garden, not due to any of the plants, but from the stories the guides tell about their history and side effects.
This summer, a new addition, Strychnine, one of the world’s most bitter and toxic substances, is being kept behind a glass case within The Poison Garden. Although historically small amounts had been used as part of performance enhancing drugs, too much ingested acts as a neurotoxin, blocking the transmission of nerve impulses in the spinal cord and inducing involuntary spasms that can often be fatal.
The inspiration for The Poison Garden came from the Duchess of Northumberland, who believed her visitors would be intrigued by a garden containing plants with the potential to kill.
Built as phase two of The Alnwick Garden in 2005, it has become one of the most popular features and has welcomed over 2-million visitors from all over the world through its locked black gates. Through The Alnwick Garden’s Drugs Education Programme, people can learn more about dangerous plants, drugs and the effects they can have on people’s lives