• Agatha Christie's Potent Plants
    03/10/2009

    Torre Abbey has opened an unusual new garden featuring medicinal and poisonous plants in celebration of the area's connection with Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie.  Head Gardener, Ali Marshall tells us the story of her new garden.

    Belladonna, Deadly Nightshade

    Entitled Agatha Christie's Potent Plants, the idea for the new garden came about as a result of losing a typewriter...... not just any old machine of course but the one used by the writer herself.  We didn't actually mislay it accidentally.  Some visitors will remember the Agatha Christie Room at the Abbey but the artefacts within it, including her typewriter, have now been returned to Greenway where they properly belong.  So we found ourselves at the end of the famous "Agatha Christie Mile" with no Christie connection.

    Given such an awkward situation, what else could a gardener, with an interest in the way humans use plants and a morbid taste for crime novels, do except dig deep into the murky world of poisons, antidotes and remedies and thus follow in the footsteps of Torquay's wartime pharmacy dispenser who became the best-selling novelist of all time?

    After much research, though we stopped short of actually testing the efficacy of the various substances, the garden was planted and opened during the 2009 Agatha Christie Festival.  I must mention and thank the team at the Torquay Tourist Information Centre, and in particular Carol who generously gave her time, research and Christie knowledge, making an enormous contribution to the project.

    The central feature of the display is a collection of plants of varying degrees of toxicity, that appear throughout Christie's works.  While this might sound extremely dangerous for staff and public alike we have been very careful in our choice of plants , substituting less potent garden cultivars where possible.  This is a garden designed to entertain - not provide murderous opportunities!

    The fruit stones of the Prunus family, for example, once processed , produce cyanide, used to lethal effect in "The Mirror Crack'd".  Monkshood and Foxgloves also play a big part, as do Poppies and Yellow Jasmine.  Other plants however have a more positive purpose.  A Kilmarnock Willow (aspirin) takes centre stage while Valerian and Fennel owe their inclusion to their reputed therapeutic benefits.

    For the beds around the central display we have picked four of Christie's short stories where plants play an integral part in the plot.  Each bed represents one of these stories and, in keeping with the mystery theme, we challenge visitors to see if they can recognise and name the stories from the plant clues.  What better way could there be for Christie fans to exercise their 'little grey cells'.

    Agatha Christie's Potent Plant is in the main Torre Abbey gardens which are open daily from 10-6 in summer (10-5 winter).  There is a reduced rate garden-only admission.  Click here for details of the 2010 Agatha Christie Festival.

News