Botanical Mystery Tour

Harry Potter and Magical Plants

We all know the Harry Potter series is filled with magic. But did you realize how important magical plants like Devil’s snare and mandrake are to the stories? We explore

The Silence of the Lambs and Death's-Head Hawkmoths

The poster for the movie The Silence of the Lambs is iconic — a sinister winged insect covers the mouth of a pale-faced woman. That insect is a death’s head hawkmoth, and

Shakespeare in the Garden

Botanical references abound in Shakespeare’s works, like in this famous quote from ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ He was a writer who celebrated plants in verse and someone who kept

Alice in Wonderland and the Mysteries of Mushrooms

Mushrooms! Colorful, weird, possibly deadly, and an important part of the classic tale by Lewis Carroll. When consumed, the mushrooms Alice encounters have wacky and stra

The Star Wars Sarlacc Pit and Carnivorous Plants

Move over Darth Vader and Kylo Ren: Sarlaccs are way more terrifying than your light sabers. The terrifying, plant-like creature that almost eats Lando Calrissian in Retu

The Simpsons, Dennis the Menace, and the Corpse Flower

Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, is one of the Garden’s superstar plants. These stinky, rare blooms attract thousands of visitors intrigued by t

Black Mirror and the Automated Drone Insects

Black Mirror is a British sci-fi TV series that explores some nightmarish consequences of new technologies. In the season 3 episode “Hated in the Nation,” humans have cur