The World’s Most Peculiar Gardens

Published October 22, 2012
Updated July 25, 2019

The Most Peculiar Gardens: Poison Garden, England

Poison Garden

Source: Wikinut

Opened in 2005, England’s own Poison Garden hosts–as you can imagine–the world’s deadliest plants, some of which include hemlock, strychnine and deadly nightshade. Sprawling over 14 acres, the Poison Garden was inspired by the ignominious Padua gardens where the Medicis would plan the deaths of their Florentine foes.

Presently, the Poison Garden is monitored by 24-7 security and some of the plants–so dangerous that even touching them may be fatal–are caged. If the green space looks familiar to you, there’s a reason: the deleterious garden appeared in the first two “Harry Potter” films.

Poison Garden England

Source: WordPress

Poison Garden Peculiar Gardens

Source: Blogspot

Poison Garden

Source: Tumblr

Poison Garden Picture

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Peculiar Gardens: Las Pozas, Mexico

Las Pozas Garden

Source: Wikimedia

In 1964, the surrealist movement made its way to Mexico in the form of the construction of Las Pozas. Translating as “bathing pools,” Las Pozas was the product of a wealthy and very eccentric Englishman named Edward James. Shedding the confines of Edwardian English culture, James came to embrace the Bohemian culture of Paris and its inhabitants–James himself becoming a patron of artistic visionaries like Salvador DalĂ­, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Rene Magritte among others.

He eventually abandoned them as well when he headed to Mexico–albeit only physically. Upon constructing his seven million dollar estate, James insisted that it be filled with surrealistic structures meant to mimic its surrounding tropical vegetation.

World's Most Peculiar Gardens Las Pozas

Source: WordPress

Las Pozas Peculiar Gardens

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The Most Peculiar Gardens: Lost Garden Of Heligan, England

After a 1990 hurricane destroyed what was an already deteriorating property, many thought that the 400+ year-old Tremayre family estate was steadily approaching its departure from national memory. However, upon sifting through the scree, a small phrase was found etched into the limestone walls of a work room that read “don’t come here to sleep or slumber.”

Soon after, its discoverers were sprung into action to commemorate the backbreaking efforts that the estate’s grounds people had made for centuries by bringing the near “lost” garden back to life for others to enjoy. Today, the estate boasts several varied gardens and has been voted the nation’s favorite garden by the BBC.

Lost Garden Of Heligan

Source: Kipeo

Most Peculiar Gardens Heligan

Source: Stausteltown

If you enjoyed seeing these peculiar gardens, be sure to check out the world’s most beautiful gardens and astounding vertical gardens. Finally, read up on some of Earth’s most fascinating carnivorous plants.

author
Savannah Cox
author
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.