Kew’s plant science showcase is not for shrinking violets

Visitors to Kew Gardens can experience horticulture with an edge this autumn at a series of hard-hitting exhibitions designed to highlight the vital importance of plant science.

Themes include the role of plants as sources of food, medicines and habitats; their contribution to land protection and flood defence, and how they can have a key role in dealing with global warming.

The first exhibition, opening on Saturday, will explore mind-altering plants and fungi. It will be followed by a show on deadly and disgusting flora, designed especially for children.

Director of public programmes Gay Coley, who joined last November from the Eden Project in Cornwall, said she wanted to share the scientific work that has been the backbone of Kew in a direct, dramatic way: “Kew has outstanding collections of plants that people appreciate for their beauty. But I want to bring the science into the gardens. I want the critical stories brought to huge audiences in engaging ways.

“We can look at plants and think they’re decorative but they’re far more important than that.”

The aim was to reinforce Kew’s role as “a powerful botanic garden as opposed to just a pleasure garden,” she added. This summer it hosted an exploration of the medicinal qualities of plants, which showed that even some thought bad, such as tobacco, could have public benefits.

In the new season, food “architects” Bompas & Parr will host weekend workshops exploring psychoactive plants, stimulating botanicals and other “mind-altering magic”. At the Plant Connoisseurs’ Club, in the Secluded Garden Glasshouse, participants can sample betel nut, kola nut, raw guarana and blue lotus tea.

Intoxication Season runs from Saturday until 12 October