Growing sinister
Black leaves, flesh eaters, night bloomers and other suggestions for Halloween plants
For some Halloween enthusiasts, the season starts long before October: The scary movie marathons have begun, the decorations are up and … the plants are showing off their foliage?
Yes, the plants. Spooky-looking garden and house plants have become increasingly popular. More than 17,000 posts on Instagram include the hashtag #gothgarden, and plants such as the Raven ZZ (aka Zamioculcas zamiifolia) and Alocasia Black Velvet are hot commodities in plant shops.
Though many of these plants are popular year-round and are long-term additions to gardens and homes, Halloween seemed like the time to give them their spotlight. We asked experts for their picks for some creepy — but striking — plants.
Carnivorous varieties
A classic edition in the creepy plant pantheon is the carnivorous plant, and Danae Horst, owner of Folia Collective in Eagle Rock and author of the book “Houseplants for All,” knows of a few that love munching on creepy crawlies in a sunny window.
VENUS FLYTRAP ❯❯ This plant, with its mouthlike appendages that can quickly doom an insect, is a classic, but Horst pointed out there are many cultivars with unusual coloration or shapes. Some varieties are blood red; others have much larger traps.
SUNDEWS ❯❯ One of Horst's favorites is the sundew, which boasts sticky glands on its petallike leaves that work like a natural kind of flypaper.
PITCHER PLANTS ❯❯ These fall into multiple genuses, but in general they're known for their tubes that attract and then trap insects. Pitcher plants come in a wide variety of shapes and striking colors, according to Horst. Some are bright red and others have multicolored patterns.
“They definitely look very otherworldly,” she said.
Carnivorous plants may be scary, but they won't be hardy if the right conditions aren't met.
These plants need lots of light and, because they often originate from bogs, benefit from being put on trays with some standing water. They're also picky about the kind of water they get.
“They really only should be watered with either distilled water or rainwater,” Horst said, adding they don't like the minerals commonly found in tap water.
Outlandish outdoor plants
California natives can be spooky, too. We reached out to two faculty members from Cal Poly Pomona's department of landscape architecture, Muriel Fernandez and Sarah Fisher, and they provided some suggestions.
SALVIA ❯❯ Fernandez recommends two species: Salvia leucophylla and Salvia munzii, which she says have intense bluish-purple blooms,
SMOKE TREE ❯❯ Another of Fernandez's picks. This native has spiny, grayish-green branches and leaves that give it almost a billowy appearance. It makes deep blue flowers.
Fisher shared her picks for native plants in an email.
COBWEB THISTLE ❯❯ The leaves have a hairy appearance suggesting cobwebs.
FRAGRANT EVENING PRIMROSE ❯❯ This plant opens large white blooms at dusk and attracts pollinators such as sphinx moths.
SACRED DATURA ❯❯ It produces “beautiful, haunting white flowers that open at night.”
Fisher notes that sacred datura has hallucinogenic properties, so it's not recommended for gardens where children or pets are present.
Goth gardening
Shannie McCabe, a horticultural expert for Baker Creek Heirloom
Seeds, said many flowers put out dark plumage for a goth vibe. Some examples are the Bowles Black pansy, Jet Black hollyhock, Chocolate cosmos and Black Prince snapdragon.
Some root vegetables are also great picks for a goth garden such as the Black Nebula carrot, which has a deep purple hue, and the Bull's Blood beet, with a rich red color.
And for those looking to make a Halloweenthemed cocktail? “They both make incredible blood-red juice,” McCabe said.
Folia Collective's Horst also had some suggestions for goth houseplants.
ZZ PLANTS ❯❯ ZZs, which are prized for being low-maintenance and thriving in indirect and low light, are already pretty popular, but now they come in goth colors, too. The Raven ZZ is one of the most recognizable varieties, but Horst said many varieties sport darker foliage.
BEGONIAS ❯❯ They come in a range of colors, but some are deep red, dark purple or even black with a high contrast, neon green vein running down the middle, making them a great choice to create a more moody or spooky vibe, Horst said.
ALOCASIAS ❯❯ The amazonica and Black Velvet varieties have dark leaves with white veins.
GEOGENANTHUS CILIATUS ❯❯ Horst said this newly popular houseplant variety has glossy purple foliage that's so dark it's almost black. It also has a high-contrast purple vein. She said the plant has been frequently requested as a companion plant to the Raven ZZ by people trying to create a goth vibe in their homes.
Unlike the ZZ, though, the geogenanthus needs a little more care. Horst recommends placing it near a source of bright, indirect light, keeping it moist and making sure it has a lot of humidity. She recommends keeping a humidifier near the plant or keeping it in a place such as a bathroom, assuming there's enough light.
Halloween may be the season of scares, but there's nothing really that scary about caring for a geogenanthus.
“I wouldn't say it's the easiest plant, but it's definitely not the hardest,” Horst said.