Flickr Photo by Contadini
Halloween is almost here! Get your garden ready for its closeup. Plant some of these frightful members of the plant kingdom near the front door, or where they can be up-lit for maximum effect. This is the third in a series of ghoulish garden design blogs for Halloween. The first two included orange and black plants, and plants with spook-tacular names. If you want to truly scare your trick-or-treaters, find some of these scary plants for your garden. Create creepy containers to greet little ones when they ring your doorbell.
These are our favorite Halloween-inspired horticultural wonders. For more scary plants, check out the aHa! Modern Living Facebook Fan Page, and add your favorite scary plant pictures for everyone to see.
Bloody Fingers
These plants are carnivorous bog plants, so they will drink your blood. . . or at least, the blood of unfortunate insects that fall into the opening in its leaves and slide down to the pool of digestive enzymes waiting to dissolve it. . .
The Brain Plant
This is a succulent, one of many that look like brains leaking out of someone’s head. These plants are best for containers near the house. Succulents need bright sun, and well-drained, coarse potting mix with made from sand, small gravel and soil.
The Death Plant
Carrion lilies are pollinated by flies. These plants lure in the flies with their horrendous smell of rotting flesh.
Creepy Crawlies
Rhipsalis, is a genus of epiphytic cacti. They live on trees in tropical areas and look like long, stringy fingers or witches hair. In North America, we can grow these as houseplants. They make great hanging baskets. Or, something for your Halloween visitors to brush up against in the dark.
Voodoo Lilies
These plants look like an arm reaching out from the grave. They bloom in the spring, and send up large single-stalk leaves during the summer. Can’t you just picture them growing up out of an abandoned cemetery? They grow best in partial to full shade.
The Man Eater
Gunnera only look like giant plants that could devour a person in a single gulp. They grow along hillsides in moist temperate areas. One leaf could cover an entire person.
The Old Man’s Beard
This cactus looks like a wizard’s beard. It is a perfect complement to your garden of ghoulish delights.
Spanish Moss
The very image of Spanish moss dripping from the trees conjures visions of ghostly haunting in old plantation mansions in the south. It looks like the hair of an old hag, hanging from the trees. When you light it at night, it looks like the souls of spirits waiting. . .
Hubbard Squash
These large winter squashes look like gigantic brains, if you select a particularly flat and warty variety. They’re available at farmer’s markets and specialty groceries around Halloween.
Warts and More
One thing you can find in plentiful array near Halloween is a supply of warty gourds. These look like deformed heads, or scary animal noses and everything in between. Arrange them artfully for full freak out effect.
A Giant Spider, or a Bromeliad?
These bromeliads grow wild in the trees of southern Florida. They are living plants, but they look like gigantic spiders. Imagine the fright if you saw one of these lit up at night?
Ready to create your garden of Halloween Scenes? We hope you have a spooky and fright-filled holiday!
Tags: aHa! Modern Living Fan Page, Halloween plants, horticulture wonders
