OK I admit this is sick buying a book to match the theme decor of my new guest room, which is supposed to look like an upstairs garden bower, all summer greens and yellows. So I bought the small, lime green bound book Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart and illustrated by Briony Morrow-Cribbs, the author and artist of The Drunken Botanist which I bought at the Harvard museum when I dragged the "kids" to see the glass flowers a couple of summers ago, pre-Red Sox game, the real reason for the journey to Boston.
I love these two books. The essentially are encyclopedic reference books, full of history and anecdotes and marvelous humor. I also feel a sense of complicit witchery in the topic. So without further ado, let me cite all the wicked plants I intentionally cultivate in my yard, or use for decoration for various seasons, or buy from the local florist with a wry sense of doom:
English Ivy (how apropos that this one comes first)
Pencil Cactus (I may use a computer, but the urge to write in graphite continues, yes?)
Rhubarb
Elderberry
Mulberry
Juniper
Celery
Limes
Periwinkle
Azalea
Rhododendron
Foxglove
Hydrangea
Hellebore
Lily of the Valley
Bleeding Heart
Tulip
Hyacinth
Morning Glory
Aloe
and last but not least, the plant that almost did me in Yew, the source of the dreaded cancer drug Taxol
Maybe I should consult The Drunken Botanist and make a similar list of all the plant fragranced beverage I have imbibed.
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