Plot the Spookiest Garden

If haunted houses are the scariest places to be on Halloween, then spooky gardens surely rate a close second. Think of all the creatures normally associated with frightful surroundings and where they originate: bats, toads, snakes, and spiders to name a few.

Give me five years and a fair sized piece of property and I’d love to design a garden grown especially for Halloween. What would I plant?

There would be at least one arbour covered in vines so step-triggered creatures could drop from the greenery into the path of the victims and lots of shrubbery to provide hiding places for props.

Ground covers would include Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), which forms large thickets and has white, globe-shaped berries in the Autumn. Snowberry foliage (and this is so perfect) provides food for the caterpillars of Death's-head Hawk-moths.

A specimen shrub that’s tailor made for Halloween is Datura or Angel’s Trumpet. Other names for this tender perennial include Devil’s Weed or Devil’s Cucumber. Growing up to 10 to 12 feet in size, this plant features large, aromatic, pendulous blossoms. Datura contains the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine and has long been used as a poison and hallucinogen.

What garden is complete without a rosebush? A great one for this project is Rosa omeiensis pteracantha which has giant “ winged-shaped thorns". These are amazingly translucent to the light, reminiscent of a bat’s wing.

In the dampness beneath large trees toadstools and mushrooms would rule the shadows. And have you ever wondered how the two differ?

Essentially they're the same, except that usually toadstools are thought of as poisonous mushrooms.

In one corner of the property there would be a plot of corn grown for its stalks, which rustle beautifully on dark windy nights. The tall cover is also perfect for spooky creatures to spring from.

Another tall accent could be provided with large pots of Ornamental Millet Purple Majesty, which is similar to corn in appearance but is a lovely dark mauve with skinny cattail-like seedheads.

I’d also plant beds of broom (Genista) and for All Hallows Eve, bind the lower stems together to create an upside down group of this plant’s namesake. A few candles placed beneath in small, sand-filled black cauldrons would complete the area.

One section of the property would be devoted to the traditional herbs used in spell casting, including mugwort, mother of all herbs. The silvery undercast of its foliage adds to the ambience of a moonlit evening.

Speaking of moonlight, a tree that is most appropriate for mood making is the Twisted Willow (Salix matsudana tortuosa). Branches could also be used for making wild looking wreathes to greet trick-or-treaters at the door. Decorate them with gnarled gourds that you’ve grown, miniature white pumpkins and little wired-on pots of black violas.