From Medicine to Murder: How the Apothecary Garden Found Its Dark Side

by Icy Sedgwick

There’s something about the concept of a poison garden that either titillates or terrifies, depending on your preferences.
The UK’s most famous Poison Garden is at the Alnwick Garden. Its influence is so far-reaching that if you Google “poison garden”, it dominates the first several pages of results. So much so that I assumed the poison garden was an established concept in horticultural history. Not so, it turns out.
Yet it does descend from a historical gardening ideal – the physic garden.
You and I are going on a voyage of discovery in these gardens. Just be careful not to touch anything…

A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe

by Dee Dee Chainey

I began writing ‘Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe: A Treasury of British Folklore’ back in April last year.

May Day, Weddings and Births – Folklore Trees and Traditions in Bavaria

by Steve Toase

Maypoles are often seen as a quintessentially English tradition, yet in Bavaria the raising of the Maibaum (or May Tree) is also an important event, and it is not the only time a tree is hefted aloft in celebration.

Slavic Traditions: The Garlands of Midsummer’s Eve

by Klara Sielicka

In Poland, Midsummer’s Eve garlands would be set on water, their path on the surface foretelling the owner’s future, and protecting from spells and curses.

Midwinter Celebrations: Yule, Saturnalia, and Christmas Folklore

by Ruth Binney

Christmas traditions have evolved through the centuries, many of them have ancient origins linked to the midwinter festivals of Yule and Saturnalia

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