5 Mystical Plants for your Garden

Legend claims they have supernatural powers - some good, some bad, some simply mysterious.

Soul-Terra’s Mystery Candles are very magical but they don’t just contain crystals. Grandma Terra has been perfecting her brews, spells, and potions for a long time with supernatural herbs, elixirs, oils, and a bit of magic. There wasn’t a garden section at Home Depot she could just go and buy plants at in the 1800’s. She had to seek the enchanting forest and go foregding for her remedies. But first she asked Mother Earth where to find these plants and with some deep connecting she felt the intuition to head to the Great Smoky Mountains. As she plucked and snipped each herb, plants, and root has thanked the Earth for the gifts of these magical goodies and this is what she found.

Mysterial gardens overgrown with powerful plants whose magical properties made them dangerous and alluring are so entwined with Western storytelling that date back at least as far as the Garden of Eden. But how do you inject a little enchantment into your own backyard?

Deadly Nightshade

With a name like that, how can it not have a frightening history? It’s also known as belladonna, which means “beautiful woman” in Italian. The plant was used to make drops that dilated the pupils, which women thought made them more appealing.

Since ancient times, nightshade has been an ingredient on poison-tipped arrows. It was the toxin of choice in Ancient Rome. Perhaps the best-known take about it involved the Emperor Claudius’s wife, who gave him a mushroom topped with a few drops supplied by Locusta, a famous Roman poison maker.

Nightshade is a frequently mentioned component of the FLYLING potion used by witches in the Middle Ages. Recipes can be found in numerous medieval texts.

Mandrake

This plant is in the same family as the deadly nightshade. It produces roots that resemble the human form. For that reason - and its hallucinogenic properties- mandrake has long been associated with mysterious doings that date back to at least biblical times. Folklore claims the cry of a dug- up mandrake is deadly for whoever hears it.

Foxglove

If you want a proper fairy garden, you’ll need this ornamental plant, which produces bright white to purple blooms that resemble bells and fit over your fingers like a glove. Some believe the name

foxglove is a derivative of “folk’s glove” because the “the good folk” is a traditional term for fairies. These plants follow the sun, and their dancing, graceful leaves and blossoms were thought to move whenever

fairies or other spirit creatures were nearby. In another legend, fairies ring the bell-shaped flowers to alert other good folk about hunters in the vicinity. Although dangerous if used improperly,the common foxglove is a source of an important medicine in the treatment of heart disease.

Rue

This shrub with blue-grey foliage and yellow blooms dates back centuries and has long been an herbal medicine. Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician, used it to treat multiple maladies. During outbreaks of bubonic plague in Europe, it was an ingredient in the vinegar of the four thieves, a tonic that seemed to protect people from the disease. Supposedly four criminals concocted it so they could drink it and steal from corpses without catching the plague. WIlliam Shakespeare frequently used the pungent,bitter plant to represent regret. Today it is common to hear the phrase “You’ll rue the day.” In folklore, rue is a good herb, said to bless homes and ward off evil spirits. Legend says it will grow better if you steal it from a neighbors garden.

Wolfsbane

It just sounds spooky, so it is not wonder that this plant has such a rich history. This beauty with purple flowers has long been favored in traditional Chinese Medicine. Its name comes from its use as

poison on the tips of arrows to kill wolves. It has been a popular toxin in supernatural tales for centuries. In Greek mythology, Medea killed Theseus with it. People have used it to protect their homes from werewolves, and it has found its way into numerous horror stories as a protection against those creatures as well as vampires, including the 1931 classic horror film Dracula

Note : Although rue is an ingredient in some Middle Eastern dishes, do NOT ingest the other four plants mentioned without first seeking medical advice.

Cover Photo Cred: Lily Seika Jones (@rivuletpaper)