Wolfsbane

Monkshood, bottom garden, this afternoon Image © Kel Harvey

If you consider gardening to be a safe, indeed sedate and some might think, boring occupation, hobby or pastime; think again. It's a jungle out there and I'm not referring to the tangle of weeds that colonise at least some corners of large and unruly gardens - to the general benefit of the wildlife that inhabits them - there are myriad things that literally bite and many that metaphorically do, also.

This train of thought was not sparked by the obvious thorn-related scars on my calves, but rather the first realisation that the Monkshood in our garden is just in flower. We were doing some tidying up post-rains and taking advantage of the current spell of rather fine weather when Jane pointed out the familiar and quite distinct violet blooms in the borders.

Like so many plants in the average garden, beauty disguises a lethal character in this plant. It goes by various common names aside from the descriptive 'Monkshood'. It also goes by the appellations Aconite, Wolf's Bane, Leopard's Bane, Mousebane, Women's Bane, Devil's Helmet, Queen of Poisons, or Blue Rocket, the last of which suggests an ingredient in a poisoner's salad.

It's physiological effects can be catastrophic and in sufficient quantity it can lead to instant death from heart and respiratory-centre paralysis. Nice. Plant alkaloids are not to be trifled with. The upside is that mere contact does not lead to poisoning, just ingestion, so avoid the blue rocket salad.