It’s hard to believe how early humans unknowingly sacrificed themselves in the prehistoric quest to find out which plants were safe to eat, which were suitable for healing, and which would injure or kill those who touched them. Now, most of us rely on experts to make these distinctions for us. Unless we are educated in this field, it is certain that none of us will have the slightest idea about avoiding the poisoning of nature.

But we don’t need to worry too much about this when visiting the garden, which we will talk about next. It is located on the grounds of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. one of the most beautiful attractions in the north of the country, where hundreds of colorful plants invite visitors to stroll among fragrant roses, well-kept pruning gardens and cascading fountains. But within the confines of Alnwick, behind black iron gates, is a place where visitors are clearly told not to stop to smell the flowers.

Poison Garden, home of 100 ruthless assassins.

You can admire the plants with your eyes in this garden, but you can’t touch or smell anythingbecause all the plants in the garden are poisonous and could possibly kill you. The history and origins of such an attraction are as fascinating as the ones housed in it.

In 1995, Jane Percy became Duchess of Northumberland, this northern county on either side of the Scottish border, after her husband’s brother died unexpectedly. Along with the name came Alnwick Castle, the traditional residence of the Duke of Northumberland (and also the setting for Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films). After the family settled in the castle, Percy’s husband asked her to do something about the gardens, which were then disused commercial forestry and contained nothing but rows of Christmas trees.

“She must have thought, ‘This will keep her quiet, she’ll plant a few roses and that’s it,'” the Duchess said. But Percy did more than plant a few roses. In 1996, Alnwick hired landscape architect Jacques Wirtz, who had worked on the gardens of the Tuileries in Paris and the French president’s residence, to help redesign the garden. Actually, He wanted something that would set his project apart from the others. Gardens adorning the English countryside. “If you’re building something, especially a visitor attraction, it has to be something truly unique,” he said.

The Duchess thought she might want to include an apothecary garden, but a trip to Italy put her on a slightly different path. After visiting the infamous Medici poison garden, the Duchess got the idea to create an herb garden that could kill rather than heal. Another trip to the archaeological site of the largest hospital in medieval Scotland, where the Duchess learned of henbane, opium and hemlock-soaked anesthetizing sponges used to numb amputees during 15th-century surgeries, sparked her interest in the creation. garden of deadly plants.

“This is a way of engaging children. They don’t care if the aspirin comes out of the bark. “The really interesting thing is to know how a plant kills you, how the patient dies, and how you felt before you died,” he said. devoted himself to collecting poisonous plants for your dream poison garden. In choosing the 100 cultivars that would eventually take root there, he asked for only one requirement for each new acquisition: Plants needed to tell a good story. This meant exotic killers like Brugmansia from South America would mix with more common poisons like bush laurel.

killers out of ignorance

The extraordinary thing about plants is that they are the most common plants that people don’t know are lethal. Visitors are often surprised to learn that bush laurel, which is nearly ubiquitous in English gardens, can be highly toxic. However, some visitors have had experiences with the sinister side of the laurel. After loading their car with pruned bay leaves to take to the landfill, some drivers fell asleep at the wheel due to the toxic fumes emitted by the branches. Also a few years ago, seven people passed out after inhaling these gases while walking in the garden.

There are over 100 plants in the Poison Garden and they are all poisonous. The garden contains very dangerous plants such as hemlock; foxglove; atropa belladonna; Y strychnos nux vomica, where strychnine comes from. there are also plants Rincinus communisgives us castor oil, but it also gives us the poison ricin. Bay, which also lives in the garden, is a beautiful plant. produces cyanide. Again, hogweed may seem like the worst plant in the bunch. Touching it triggers a phototoxic reaction and burns the skin. Blisters caused by the reaction can last up to seven years. Head outfielder Trever Jones has to move even on the outfield, donning a face shield, gloves and an airtight suit.

There is also a trap in the garden. It contains many assassins that actually look like beautiful flowers, such as Laburnum trees with striking yellow flowers. deadly seeds. aconite is another deceptively deadly herb. It has beautiful blue flowers and poisonous berries. Leaves, roots, and stems can also kill you.

The fact that the Poison Garden is literally full of poison doesn’t stop people from lining up to visit it. About 800,000 people visit the garden every year. As part of her educational mission, the Duchess grows a variety of drugs, from marijuana to cocaine, which she and her garden guides use as a starting point for drug education. “It’s a way of educating kids without realizing they’re being trained,” she says.