Front yards are looking very spooky in my neighborhood this year. A couple of my neighbors started their installations the FIRST week of Octoboo! But I bet they won't have any of these spooky plants in their yards... Behold the beautiful and bewitching Black Bat Flower. Tacca chantrieri is a species of flowering plant in the yam family. It was first described in 1901 by Édouard André. T. chantrieri is native to southeastern Asia. The Black Bat Flower prefers environments similar to its native region with tropical, moist conditions, so unless you have a tropical greenhouse, this is not a flower for you (or sadly) me to grow. It has a unique pollination method in that it is mostly autonomous self pollinating. The BBF has been commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for common aliments to more complex conditions such as cancer. |
 This creepy plant's nick name is The Dolls-Eyes Plant. Actaea pachypoda, commonly known as the white baneberry is a species of flowering plant in the genus Actaea of the family Ranunculaceae. This plant is native to eastern Canada, the Midwestern and Eastern United States. It prefers coarse loamy upland soils, and is found in hardwood and mixed forest stands. The white flowers are produced in spring in a dense raceme about 3.9 inches long. It's "eyeballs" are the 1/2 inch diameter berries. The black stigma scar produces the pupil effect. This is not a plant to grow at home due to the fact that the entire plant (including those eyeballs) are considered poisonous to humans. The berries contain cardiac toxins which can have an immediate sedative effect on human cardiac muscle tissue. I'll just enjoy the pictures, thank you very much!  This spooky fellow is the Monotropa Uniflora, also known as the Ghost Plant, Ghost Pipe or Indian Pipe. It is a herbaceous, parasitic, non-photosynthesizing, perennial flowering plant native to temperate regions of Asia, North America, and northern South America. Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll. Instead of generating food using the energy from sunlight, it is parasitic, and its roots ultimately sap food from where the host fungi are connected to the photosynthetic trees. Since it is not dependent of sunlight to grow, it can grow in very dark environments such as the understory of dense forest. The complex relationship that allows this plant to grow makes propagation difficult. So needless to say, I will also be enjoying the pictures, not trying to grow it in my yard.  Meet the Darlington Californica also known as the Cobra Lily or California Pitcher Plant. It is a species of carnivorous plant in the new world pitcher plant family. Native to Northern California and Oregon, it prefers a cool and humid environment, but has adapted itself to living near bogs, vernal pools and on forested rocky slopes. It gets its nick name Cobra Lily from the resemblance of its tubular leaves to a rearing cobra, complete with a forked leaf (tongue or teeth) that ranges from yellow to purplish-green. It was discovered during the Wilkes Expedition of 1841 by botanist William D. Brackenridge at Mount Shasta, in Northern California. Modern cultivation efforts have produced several cultivars that are available as commercial house or garden plants. Now as these charming characters "eat" small insects, I wonder if they'll entice all the pesky no-seeum mosquitos if I plant a few in my back yard?  Last but not least let me introduce you to the Carrion or Toad Plant (Stapelia Gigantea). It is native to the desert regions of northeastern South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. Hmm... my next vacation destination? Growing up to 10 inches tall, it is a clump-forming succulent plant with flowers that can be up to 16 inches wide. The flowers are red and yellow, wrinkled, with a silky texture and fringed with hairs that can be as long as 0.3 inches. These flowers have the smell of rotting flesh in order to attract the flies which pollinate them. Because of its foul oder, S. Gigantea can act as an appetite suppressant in humans. Well I would like to loose another 10 pounds!!!The spookiest thing that could happen to any one of us, is to miss the 2026 Heards Memorial Garden Tour. So mark your calendars for the 2nd and the 3rd of May. I'll be seeing you in the garden, Cindie Reilly, Heards Memorial Garden Tour Newsletter Editor |
Spooky Plants for the Spookiest time of the Year
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