We all know garlic doesn’t agree with vampires, but this Halloween look to your garden to keep the other spooks at bay as well. Disclaimer: none of these is guaranteed to keep trick-or-treaters away from your door.
Witches
An infusion or bath of angelica will protect you from their spells, as will rue and dill wards off the evil eye. If you have a rowan tree if the garden, look no further: “None shall pass!”
Werewolves
It might seem obvious, but wolfsbane is the weapon of choice here. Also known as monkshood, Aconitum is an extremely poisonous, yet commonly-grown herbaceous perennial with vivid blue flowers. Mistletoe isn’t just good for kissing under, it will also see away the werewolf as will (once again) the rowan tree.
Faeries
Not all faeries are good. In fact, in folklore they are often portrayed as a menace and numerous plants are associated with repelling them, including marsh marigolds, ivy, boxwood and… rowan!
Ghosts
In ancient Greece, the spirits of the dead were believed to rest in the asphodel meadows and growing asphodel is supposed to guide them towards their rightful place in the afterlife. If that doesn’t work, it’s back to burning sage, I’m afraid.
Demons and evil spirits
St John’s wort is often cited as warding of evil spirits, as well as appearing in many herbal remedies. An overall ‘good guy’ in the herb world, there are even instances of it being used in exorcisms. Angelica can, once again, help here and guess what else… that’s right, rowan!
Now all your protection is sorted you can stop being scared of those bumps in the night – happy Halloween!
