I reckon there must be some story behind the planting of these palms and bromeliads, some historical precedent, and I want you to tell me what it is. Continue reading “Two more photos of the Abbotsford Convent Contemplative Gardens”
The Abbotsford Convent Contemplative Gardens
On a bit of an Abbotsford Convent theme at the moment. I wandered there again this morning, and found this English Oak. I bet it is not so often photographed in winter as in summer. Of the gardens there, a sign says this: Continue reading “The Abbotsford Convent Contemplative Gardens”
Zombie’s cucumber in a witch’s garden
[Better photos are over at Flickr.] Don’t be tempted to brew up a tea from this powerful drug, which is impossible to dose: the amount which renders you raving is not very differnt from the fatal dose.
Acorrding to Wikipedia (also here) ingesting datura, a plant in the nightshade family, also known as zombie’s cucumber, devil’s trumpet, and jimson weed, occasions wakeful dreaming. Hallucinations caused by anticholinergics can create fully realistic three-dimensional objects that blend in perfectly with the tripper’s view of the world. Consciousness falls in and out, and for days, the affected person may converse with the non-existent.
Tropane alkaloids are some of the few substances which cause true hallucinations which cannot be distinguished from reality, unlike the visual distortions of LSD. This frequently results in dangerous and erratic behavior; in 2003, a German man cut off his penis and tongue with garden shears whilst under the influence of datura tea. Continue reading “Zombie’s cucumber in a witch’s garden”