From the tangled forest to the garden hedge, join folklorist, rotten botanist, and author Varla Ventura for an exploration of some of the world’s most enchanted plants. We’ll start in the queen’s garden of cultivars, then amble over to the cottage garden where ordinary plants offer extraordinary stories. Carefully we’ll slip through the iron gates of the witch’s garden to discover poison plants that have shaped history. We’ll gallop on to meadowlands, forests, and finally the sea. From the ordinary apple to the fabulous foxglove, we’ll discover plants that have played a significant role in fairy tales, folklore, and history.

Walk-ins welcome but feel free to register if you would like an email reminder.

Varla Ventura is the author of Enchanted Plants: A Treasury of Botanical Folklore and Magic (New Page: April 2025) as well as Varla Ventura’s Paranormal Parlor and Fairies, Pookas & Changelings along with several other books on folklore, magic and strange history. When not poking around her poison garden or hunched over her writing desk, she can be found wandering the woods and cemeteries near St. Paul, Minnesota.