A place where you shouldn’t smell the plants inside: Alnwick Garden

There are millions of interesting plants in the world. Some of these plants, which we may encounter in the wild or in urban life, attract attention with their delightful appearance. Some of them occupy a place in our memory with their wonderful scents. But in a garden in Alnwick, in the north of England, there are plants that look neither great nor fragrant. What makes Alnwick Garden one of the most famous and also one of the deadliest gardens in the world is the poisonous plants in it! It takes courage to walk through this garden full of scary plants. Here’s what you need to know about Alnwick Gardens, home to dozens of poisonous plants.

Ralph Percy became Duke of Northumberland, which stretches from northeast England to the Scottish border, after his brother’s death in 1995.

His wife, Jane Percy, was naturally declared Duchess of the region. Thus, Alnwick Castle, the traditional residence of the ruling family in the Northumberland region, became the property of the Percy family. Unlike any castle in England, this building was home to extensive but rather neglected gardens. However, thanks to the efforts of Jane Percy, these abandoned gardens eventually became one of the most famous gardens in the world. Although not a very good reputation…

Jane Percy began working with landscape architect Jacques Wirtz, who also designed several important gardens in the world in 1996.

However, the garden that the Duchess dreamed of was very different from all the gardens that the famous landscape architect had previously designed. Because Percy’s garden was inspired by the Medici gardens he saw during a visit to Italy. The most important feature of these gardens was that they grew a large number of poisonous plants.

Duchess Jane Percy was driven by the idea of ​​”creating a garden full of plants that can kill people rather than heal them.”

In accordance with this idea, feverish work began in the gardens, which had been idle for many years. In 1999, a large and experienced team set to work transforming the land owned by the Percy family into vibrant gardens. The first phase of construction work, started in 2000, was completed in 2001.

Wetlands, paths, rose gardens and gardens filled with various ornamental flowers have been built on land that until recently was nothing but dry land. The gardens, full of charming plants and flowers, were waiting for their visitors in all their glory. However, the “main garden” that the Duchess dreamed of was not yet around!

Construction work at Alnwick Garden began in 2003.

Meanwhile, the Duchess, who wanted poisonous plants to grow in the garden in order to “have a story,” began collecting a variety of poisonous plants, from the exotic Brugmansia to the common laurel.

The garden was opened to the public in 2005 after a two-year construction period.

Of course, the most daring inhabitants of the region were the first visitors to the garden. Because there were dozens of poisonous plants in the garden!

Alnwick Garden is now home to “a large number of poisonous plants such as crowbar, hemlock, castor oil and foxglove”.

Today, Alnwick Gardens grows and exhibits over 100 species of poisonous plants. The vast majority of them are poisonous plants, widely distributed in nature. It aims to surprise visitors to Alnwick Gardens with plants that are fairly common but not known to be poisonous.

It is strictly forbidden to eat, touch and most importantly smell the plants in Alnwick Garden!

Because the plants in the garden are poisonous enough to kill many people. However, it is stated that some visitors deliberately or unknowingly violate the rule “do not smell the plants”, so every year there are many people in the garden who are poisoned and lose consciousness. For this reason, in recent times, visitors are only allowed to roam this dangerous garden with a guide.

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