Gothic Gardening: Theme Gardens

The Garden of Ill Omens

Queen Anne's Lace

If brought into the house, snakes will follow it. In Yorkshire, this is known as Mother Die, or Stepmother's Blessing, since if it's brought into the house, your mother will die.

Bindweed

This was also known as Thunder Flower, since if you picked it, it would thunder before the day was out. This power was also ascribed to the poppy.

Hawthorn

Besides its association with fairies, this plant was considered bad luck in the house, since it either indicated a sore throat, or a dead child.

May Flower

This bad luck flower, if picked, meant you wouldn't get an apple crop, and that it would rain all summer long.

White Heather

This was considered unlucky by Scottish loyalists because of its connection with the banishment of Bonny Prince Charles.

Mimosa

In the house, it is considered a forewarning of disaster.

Herb Robert

If picked, snakes emerged from the stem.

Primroses

It was considered unlucky to pick these if it was before the chicks hatched, since the number of primrose blossoms picked indicated the number of chicks that would be born from each clutch. So if you picked primroses, you had to pick a lot. Thirteen was considered the optimal number.

Blackthorn

This is unlucky to pick because a scratch will cause blood poisoning.

Stag's Horn Sumac

If this is growing in the garden, it brings marital strife. The same is said of Matrimony vine.

Ivy

Ivy is unlucky as a gift, and a person who keeps ivy will always be poor. The saying in Ireland is 'The house where ivy grows will surely fall.' Ivy may be brought in as Christmas decorations, but if it is not removed by Candlemas, death will visit the household.

Blackberries

These cannot be picked after Michaelmas, since after that day they 'have the devil in them'.

Elder

In Ireland, it was thought an Elder tree growing in the yard made the inhabitants prone to consumption.

Broom (the plant, not the cleaning implement)

If brought into the house, it 'sweeps someone out'.

Speedwell

If you pick the flowers, birds will come and pick your eyes out.

Privet

It was rumored that privet leaves were one of the sources of diphtheria.

Sassafras

If you burn the wood, and it cracks and sputters, then someone will die.

Gray Pine

This is called the 'Unlucky Tree' because anyone who stands underneath it will misfortune befall them. It is supposed to affect women more.

Puff-Ball

These are thought to be poisonous to the touch, to give you the itch, or if the powder gets in your eyes, to blind you.

Bog Ashphodel

This is considered unlucky because it 'softens the bones'.

Sundew

Also known as 'Red Rot' because it 'rotteth sheep'.

Innocence

If you gather the flowers of this plant, it will make you wet the bed. The same is said of dandelions.

Moonwort

This plant had the country name of Unshoe-the-Horse, because it was thought that any horse that trod upon it would become unshod. This was also a property of Rest Harrow and Horseshoe Vetch.

Lavender

If it thrives in the garden, the young ladies of the house will never marry.

Crocus

An Austrian superstition says that if you pick crocus blossoms they will draw away your strength and make you weak.

Cyclamen

It was considered unlucky for a pregnant woman to even step on the plant for it could cause her to have the baby early.

Snowdrops

Snowdrop in the house is considered a 'death token' by English housewives who thought that the blossom looked like 'a corpse in the shroud, and that it always kept itself close to the earth, seeming to belong more to the dead than to the living.'

Cuckoo Pint

If young girls touch it, they will become pregnant. The Cuckoo-flower, also known as Lady's Smock, was also considered unlucky because it was associated with the Devil.

Rampion

Campanula rapunculus, besides being the bellflower that caused Rapunzel all her problems, will cause your children to be quarrelsome if grown in your garden.

Pansy

English folklore holds that to pick a pansy with the dew still on it will cause the death of a loved one. Pansies were considered by Victorians to be a bad luck gift for a man.

Violets

To carry violets (or snowdrops or primroses) into the house when they first bloomed was considered bad luck. And violets (or roses) which bloom in fall indicate an epidemic the following year.

Peony

Peonies are thought to be protected by woodpeckers, and if you gather the flowers for medicinal purposes while a woodpecker is in sight, the patient will die.

Columbine

Besides being the symbol of folly, a gift of columbines to a woman was considered bad luck.

Sage

It's considered bad luck to plant sage in your own garden; a stranger should be found to plant it for you. A entire bed of sage without any other plants in it was also considered bad luck.

There were many plants generally associated with ill luck or death, such as beefsteak geraniums, cacti (in Hungary), lilacs, and any flower usually associated with funerals, such as chrysanthemums or lilies. The Germans believe that no flowers should be placed in the mouth of a corpse, because the dead man would chew on them and then become a 'Nachzehrer' who draws his relatives into the grave after him. It is unlucky to pick up flowers which have dropped on the ground. And any flower that blooms out of season is considered 'touched by the devil'.