From Hecate of Greek mythology, goddess of ghosts and witchcraft to the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth, down to Danny Kaye's 'witch with a terrible twitch' in The Court Jester down to The Witches by Roald Dahl, witches have had a world-wide following. Many plants are associated with their nefarious activities, not all of them suited to garden pursuits.
According to the most readable Rebecca Rupp, medieval magicians put celery seeds in their shoes to allow them to fly. But these were male witches--warlocks--perhaps an early manifestation of flying sorcerers.
In fact, of all attributed to witches, the one supernatural is the ability to fly. Now it has been proven scientifically that the herb Henbane, Hyosyamus niger, a hallucinogenic ingredient of European witches brews, creates the sensation of flying. Under carefully controlled laboratory studies, an ointment prepared according to reliable recipes, when applied to a researcher's armpits, resulted in that investigator believe he was soaring through the air.
Henbane is of the botanical family Solanaceae, notorious for such other favoured ingredients of witches' brews as Belladonna, Atropa belladonna and Mandrake, Mandragora officinalis, both infamous nightshades. All three contain significant amounts of the hallucinogenic alkaloid hyoscamine . . .
An essential vehicle to attain flight was a witch's broomstick. Usually this is pictured as the traditional besom brown of birch twigs mounted on an ash handle, still valued by many traditionalists for sweeping leaves off lawns. But in horticultural parlance, a witches'-broom is a bushy growth on a coniferous of deciduous tree branch, possibly caused by a pathogen.
Many a witch felt something more was required to work their wishes James I of England--James IV of Scotland--had a thing about witches. Shakespeare is thought to have included Macbeth's trio to please the House of Stuart, recently arrived on the throne. Stage directions for act IV scene I, instruct: "A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. Enter the Three Witches." Full of malicious glee they throw into the cauldron: eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat, tongue of dog, blind worm's sting, lizard's leg, owl's wing, witches' mummy, maw and gulf, of the ravin's salt-sea shark, root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, liver of blaspheming Jew, gall of goat and slips of yew, nose of Turk and Tartar's lips . . . Certainly the hemlock and yew wouldn't have done any indulger much good . . .
The records tell us that it was not until 1722 that the last witch executed in Scotland. Earlier, in 1692, the now-notorious trials of witches were conducted in Salem, Massachusetts.
Obviously, it was as well to seek protection from witchcraft. Plants suggested to deter witches include:
Bay, Laurus nobilis, fends off devils, witches, while also safeguarding homes from thunder, lightning when planted close by
Biting Stonecrop, Sedum acre, grown on Welsh thatched roofs of cottages as protection from witches as well as lightning
Butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris, in the Hebrides was carried as a charm against witchcraft
Caper Spurge, Euphorbia lathyris, reputed in the Channel Island Jersey to protect against witches; it is also an old (and disproven) mole repellent
# Willow or Sallow, Salix caprea, when planted near the door reputedly repels witches
Rosemary, Rosemarinus officinalis, when planted near the house also repels them
Rowan, Mountain Ash, Sorbus aucuparia, also protects when planted near the door
Service Tree, Sorbus domestica, keeps witches away from habitations
Elder, Sambucus nigra, is both a "witch tree" and a tree which deters witches; feared and associated with witches but valued for its protective qualities: as a fly repellent, and used in many herbal remedies but believed unlucky to bring flowers or wood into the home; planted near backdoor, privy, stable, cow-shed as protection from witchcraft and sorcery. Nevertheless, the flowers, berries, leaves were all harvested while the wood was made peashooters.
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The writer has fond memories of a modern house, built in the 1930s, in southern Hampshire, England whose garden included several elders, a mighty rosemary bush and a goodly-sized bay tree. Nary was a witch ever encountered. But then again, neither were elephants so perhaps such plants repel pachyderms . . .
Confusingly though, several trees and shrubs label 'witch' or the alternative 'wych' have nothing to do withy such creatures of ill repute. 'Witch' or 'wych' in old English was applied to any tree with particularly pliant braches such as Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana, Witch Elm (Ulmuus glabra) and Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). Witch Alder, Fothergilla gardeni is the southern relative of the more winter hardy witch hazel, familiarly used in divining rods.
Panic Grass (Panicum capillare), a forage grass, is sometimes for some reason known as Witchgrass. The same is applied with much more good reason to Couch Grass (Elytrigia repens) as any gardener will vouch for having attempted to remove its invasive roots.
Of course, in the very best of traditions, witches conducted their nefarious trade in the manner of many a modern model, that is to say absolutely starkers. However, Neil Gaiman as explains: "Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft were written by men."
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
