The Poison Garden

Here are some garden gates with more than a little touch of dark drama. Did you even notice the spider amongst the many ironwork leaves?

The gates mark the entrance into the Poison Garden in Alnwick Gardens, located in northern England. This garden, which opened in 2005, is filled with plants that can kill you -or at least make you hallucinate or go into convulsions. The really deadly ones are grown in cages, and the place in guarded at night. The plant list includes opium poppies, cannabis, water hemlock, and nightshade, among others. You are instructed not to touch or even smell some of the plants.

Two odd things worth mentioning: First, the garden was the idea of a dutchess, the Duchess of Northumberland to be precise. Secondly, school children are encouraged to visit the Poison Garden.

But they probably have to leave their bong pipes at home.