Visiting a garden is generally a very pleasing experience, with birds chirping and the fragrance of beautiful flowers.
However, there is one garden that is filled with 100 poisonous plants and is unlike any other.
Alnwick Garden in Northumberland, England, is home to the Poison Garden, which contains around 100 deadly and toxic plants.
A black iron gate with a skull-and-crossbones welcomes you at the entrance as it warns guests of the garden’s dangers.
The unique garden was established by the Duchess of Northumberland in 2005 and is inspired by the historical use of poisonous plants in medicine and crime.
Deadly plants include highly toxic species such as nightshade (Atropa belladonna), hemlock (Conium maculatum), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), and ricin-producing castor bean (Ricinus communis).
Visitors can only enter on guided tours, and touching, smelling, or tasting the plants is strictly forbidden.
The garden also educates visitors about the historical use of these plants in medicine, murder, and mythology.
Warnings about the dangers are also highlighted on Alnwick Garden’s website they say that “the poison garden is filled exclusively with around 100 toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants”.
They added: “The boundaries of the Poison Garden are kept behind black iron gates, only open on guided tours. Visitors are strictly prohibited from smelling, touching, or tasting any plants.”
Dean Smith, the guide of the garden, spoke to BBC: “Probably the most poisonous plant we actually have here is ricin, better known as the castor bean or castor oil plant. The Guinness Book of World Records considers that to be the world’s most poisonous plant.”
Mr Smith also highlighted the laburnu m tree which is the second most dangerous of its kind in the UK.
He said: “The tree is so poisonous that if one of the branches were to fall to the floor, lay there for several months and the dog later comes along, picks it up to hold as a stick on a walk, chances are the dog won’t finish the walk. It’s that poisonous.”
Travellers who have been to the unusual garden were left impressed by its charm. One person wrote on TripAdvisor forum: “An amazing redevelopment of the original gardens. The Cascade and other water features are very spectacular. The ‘tree house’ is amazing and well worth the visit. The ‘Poison’ garden is very interesting and quite quirky. Definitely worth a second visit when the weather is a bit warmer.”