COVERstory
Goth Gardening Creating a Dark
and Brooding Landscape By Melena DiNenna As Halloween approaches, don’t feel restricted to plastic gravestones and fake cobwebs to put your garden in the holiday spirit. There are many other ways to spook it up with naturally scary plants and other garden features. Whether you want to grow plants with black flowers or foliage, gather naturally creepy decorations, or even attract some frightening creatures and insects, it’s time to embrace the spooky season. To jump-start the spine-chilling thrills, the Washington Gardener spoke to fellow gardening experts Emily Suzanne Zobel, Mikaela Boley, and Rachel J. Rhodes on GardenDC’s 77th podcast episode about all things “Goth Gardening.” The trio, who host a podcast for the University of Maryland Extension called Garden Thyme, use their horticultural expertise and own experiences in their gardens to discuss how nature alone can help you decorate for the Halloween season.
Pretty Poisonous Plants Poisonous plants make a great addition to a spooky garden. One poison-
ous plant to consider is the boneset plant, which is a “large, herbaceous, clump-forming perennial shrub with small, white flowers,” said Rhodes. It appears in the late summer and fall and grow best in “average to medium wet soil” with consistent water, she said, and can grow in either full sun or partial shade. Historically, boneset was regarded as a medicinal herb for the flu, colds, fevers, and even broken bones—however, the plant is actually toxic and bitter, so it’s no longer used for those reasons. Another poisonous plant is the spotted water hemlock, which is “one of the most violently toxic plants in North America,” said Boley. It has the same dainty, white flowers as Queen Anne’s Lace and other members of the carrot family—so they sometimes are confused for each other, but Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) has leaves “with veins that fork at their tips, with one branch ending at the tip of the leaflet and the other in the v-shaped sinus between adjacent leaflet lobes,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Other poisonous, but pretty, garden plants include Monkshood, Foxglove, and Castor Bean Plant.
Fabulous Fungi
Another spooky addition to the garden are fungi, whose funky shapes and eyecatching appearance can add a unique look to your garden. Fungi might present a challenge to grow in your garden because they all need different environments to grow in, said Zobel, but you may be able to go out hiking in the woods to find them. Deadly Angels are pretty mushrooms, said Zobel, whose all-white color could create a nice contrast to the dark colors in your goth garden. Deadly Angels are also very toxic, however, so similarly to poisonous plants, make sure never to eat them and to wear gloves when handling them. Dead Man’s Fingers are another fungi you could attempt to use. They are initially white, but as they age, turn grey with dark tips and have a “crinkled texture” that makes them look like fingers, said Zobel. They often grow on dead, decaying, or stressed trees, and OCTOBER 2021
WASHINGTON GARDENER
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