Sunday, August 17, 2008

I always thought it was Nancy Drew

...who introduced me to monkshood and its toxicity, but now I'm not so sure. Google tells me I'm likely thinking of The Password to Larkspur Lane, but I don't know if there is monkshood in the book. Regardless, the title of that mystery brings back memories. I grew up with larkspur. I think it's one of the reasons I wanted to have my own garden one day.

Not long after we bought this house, H phoned home saying he heard a gardener on Trader's Post, a local phone-in radio program, who had divided his perennials and had lots to give away. H came home with a load of plants, including a good chunk of monkshood. I was thrilled. Over the years I've divided it and now have monkshood growing in every garden.


I've yet to hold a bloom up to my chin. I don't know what I'd do if it cast a yellow shadow.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. I haven't thought of Nancy Drew in years! I still have a lot of those books in my old room, and my Mom keeps asking me what I'm going to do with them. Maybe I should bring them home.

Brenda Schmidt said...

Cool. It would be fun to look at them again. I still remember a few things from them. For instance, I remember being taken with the idea that a species of cave-dwelling fish, etc, would evolve with no eyes. I don't remember why Nancy was in the cave or anything else about the book, but I remember the fish. I liked The Hardy Boys series better, at least that's what I've always said, but I remember nothing about those books at all. Weird.

SMSteele said...

I'm with you on the Hardy boys tho Nancy was sort of a groovy (era appropriate choice of language) chick in my op.

re: aconite (monkshood) and other poisonous beauties... when I lived in Scotland, I visited the Duchess of Northumberland's garden at Alnwick... check it out, just google duchess of northumberland and alnwick.... anyway, she has a poison garden there... quite striking... sort of a response to her brother-in-law's O.D. actually...

one of my fav plants in my garden right now is my Datura, a.k.a. Angel's Trumpet... very, very toxic... it adds a certain frisson to the rather benign
jungle that is mine

Brenda Schmidt said...

A poison garden! ha!

I must google Datura. I'm not familiar with it.