The botanic garden of doom

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I know that this belongs more on BotanicGardenChat than here, but it is so cool-sounding that I had to share. Has anybody here been to this garden?

Because of the plants’ dangerous qualities, visitors to the Poison Garden are prohibited from smelling, touching or tasting any of them. Still, even with guidelines in place, visitors can fall victim to the plants. This past summer, seven people reportedly fainted from inhaling toxic fumes while walking through the garden.
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Step Inside the World's Most Dangerous Garden (If You Dare) | Travel | Smithsonian
 
I was in the Jardín Venenoso at Parque Etnográfico Pirámides de Güímar on Tenerife last year, a garden with the same concept. Dozens of poisonous plants, some even in a kind of cages to protect the visitors.
 
I've been in the Poison Garden before; just like the garden mentioned above, some of the plants are contained within cages. It's a fascinating display, all things said.

One other thing I took from that article was this quote, which could just as easily be about zoos, which seem to increasingly rely on trends set by other zoos and tend to be bringing in the same few species.

If you’re building something, especially a visitor attraction, it needs to be something really unique,” she says. “One of the things I hate in this day and age is the standardization of everything. I thought, ‘Let’s try and do something really different.
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“I realized I could do something really great if I had the right team,“says the duchess. But she knew she needed more than a good team—she needed something to set her project apart from the other gardens that dot the English countryside. “If you’re building something, especially a visitor attraction, it needs to be something really unique,” she says. “One of the things I hate in this day and age is the standardization of everything. I thought, ‘Let’s try and do something really different.’”

If only she'd started a zoo as well....

EDIT: I left this thread open on my laptop all day so hadn't loaded DesertRhino's post when I wrote my own.
 
Alnwick is probably the most famous of the various poison gardens in the world. Others can be found in Ireland (Blarney Castle), as previously mentioned on Tenerife, in Munich as well at the Cornell University.

Furthermore, various botanical gardens (for example Padua, which inspired Alnwick) and other institutions (like the Mutter Museum) keep poisonous plants next to medical plants, as there's a fine line between both.

As part of a future extension, a poison garden is solidly planned in for WdG.
 
Batto said:
Furthermore, various botanical gardens (for example Padua, which inspired Alnwick) and other institutions (like the Mutter Museum) keep poisonous plants next to medical plants, as there's a fine line between both.
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I would say that there is no line at all...
 
Oh, there is; there are poisonous plants with little to no medical utilization and medical plants with relatively little toxic potential. For all, Paracelsus' adage "The dose makes the poison" applies.
 
I'm no botanist but aren't most plants full of toxins? A walk in the countryside would probably surround you with poisonous plants.
 
Ned said:
aren't most plants full of toxins?
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No. Many plants include repellents, bitterns etc. to avoid being eaten; some employ toxins (often alkaloides) for this purpose. Others actually encourage the consumption of certain plant parts (such as fruits, nuts etc.) for the sake of dissemination. It's a matter of dose (as mentioned above), preparation, utilization and consumer (what is toxic for some is delicious for others in the "right" dose).
 
@Ned : well, you could kill yourself with, say, drinking 10l of water in one setting.
"All things are poison, and nothing is without poison, the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison." Paracelsus, 1538.
Some substances are more toxic than others, and some are more toxic to some species than others. Take Theobromine , one of the main ingredients of chocolate. For humans, it's one of the less toxic substances; you'd have to eat a very large amount of chocolate to poison yourself with it. For a smaller dog, a cat or a parrot, however, the consumption of less than 100g of chocolate can be fatal.
 
Thanks
Batto said:
@Ned : well, you could kill yourself with, say, drinking 10l of water in one setting.
"All things are poison, and nothing is without poison, the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison." Paracelsus, 1538.
Some substances are more toxic than others, and some are more toxic to some species than others. Take Theobromine , one of the main ingredients of chocolate. For humans, it's one of the less toxic substances; you'd have to eat a very large amount of chocolate to poison yourself with it. For a smaller dog, a cat or a parrot, however, the consumption of less than 100g of chocolate can be fatal.
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Thanks for the explanation.
 
I've never been here but I absolutely love the concept of a "poison garden" as I am fascinated by poisonous plants too I would love to visit Alnwick one day.

I have been to the small poison garden in the botanical garden of Gijón in Asturias, Spain, which is brilliant but definitely not as big nor as extensive a collection as the one you've posted in the link.

Wouldnt it be interesting to have a botanical garden / zoo / natural history museum which kept toxic plants / fungi and venomous / toxic animals ?

I can well imagine it ...Hispaniolan solenodons, datura, slow loris, henbane, Gabon vipers, brugmansia, diamondback rattlesnake, castor bean shrub, gila monsters, poison ivy, puff adder, autumn skullcap mushrooms, green mamba, deadly night shade, death cap mushrooms, golden poison frogs, yew trees, destroying angel mushrooms, common vampire bats, water hemlock, monocled cobra, adder, deadly nightshade, hooded pitohui, oleander, blue poison dart frog etc.

It would be a brilliant place to visit and enchanting niche destination for dark tourism.

Maybe a good idea for a future concept @Batto ?
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I've never been here but I absolutely love the concept of a "poison garden" as I am fascinated by poisonous plants too I would love to visit Alnwick one day.

I have been to the small poison garden in the botanical garden of Gijón in Asturias, Spain, which is brilliant but definitely not as big nor as extensive a collection as the one you've posted in the link.

Wouldnt it be interesting to have a botanical garden / zoo / natural history museum which kept toxic plants / fungi and venomous / toxic animals ?

I can well imagine it ...Hispaniolan solenodons, datura, slow loris, henbane, Gabon vipers, brugmansia, diamondback rattlesnake, castor bean shrub, gila monsters, poison ivy, puff adder, autumn skullcap mushrooms, green mamba, deadly night shade, death cap mushrooms, golden poison frogs, yew trees, destroying angel mushrooms, common vampire bats, water hemlock, monocled cobra, adder, deadly nightshade, hooded pitohui, oleander, blue poison dart frog etc.

It would be a brilliant place to visit and enchanting niche destination for dark tourism.

Maybe a good idea for a future concept @Batto ?
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I'm pretty sure what you describe here is exactly what Welt der Gifte already is! :p
 
birdsandbats said:
I'm pretty sure what you describe here is exactly what Welt der Gifte already is! :p
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I know that the thematic concept of Batto's zoo is venomous / toxic animals but I didn't know that he was keeping plants and fungi on site too.

If he is then more power to him. It is a brilliant concept institution and I think he has been committed and brave enough to work towards achieving it so deserves every success with it.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I know that the thematic concept of Batto's zoo is venomous / toxic animals but I didn't know that he was keeping plants and fungi on site too.
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He isn't as yet, but as you can see if you read upthread it is something he would like to do in future :)

On another note, I'm amazed I didn't reply to this thread when originally posted, as Alnwick is literally about 45 minutes from me and I have visited several times, both for the gardens and the antiquarian bookshop in the town centre!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
He isn't as yet, but as you can see if you read upthread it is something he would like to do in future :)

On another note, I'm amazed I didn't reply to this thread when originally posted, as Alnwick is literally about 45 minutes from me and I have visited several times, both for the gardens and the antiquarian bookshop in the town centre!
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I hope he manages to achieve it as it would be a very novel idea and I doubt there is anywhere in the world that has something like that for the worlds poisonous flora and fauna.

It looks like an excellent place to visit indeed but I always think that botanical gardens could do with animals within them so I would hope that Alnwick obtain a species or two for exhibition.
 
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