Gothic Gardening: Potpourri

Vampiric Plants

Giant man-eating Venus Fly-traps? Night-flying daisies? Blood-sucking rutabagas? No, not quite.

While there are lots of plants associated with repelling vampires, I've found only *one* mention of vampiric plants. The Islamic gypsies of Bosnia (Kosovo-Metohija region) believe that pumpkins and watermelons, if kept too long in the house, can become "vampires". This vampiric metamorphosis occurs because they are "fighting one another". "Too long" is variously stated as ten days or just after Christmas. The Lesani gypsies think that a dried pumpkin, used as a siphon, will turn vampiric if it stays unopened for three years. These vampire vegetables might show a bit of blood, roll around the house and stables, make a noise described as 'brrr, brrr, brrr', and just generally annoy the living.

To destroy the vampire pumpkins and watermelons, you plunge them into a pot of boiling water. After pouring away the water, scrub the vegetables with a broom and throw them away. Burn the broom.

From: "The Vampire" by T. P. Vukavonic, reprinted in Vampires of the Slavs, by Jan L. Perkowski. Vukavonic did field research with the gypsies in Serbia during the 30s and 40s. Of course, these same gypsies told Vukavonic that they believed certain agricultural implements could also become vampires, so I suspect that either the Rom were pulling Vukavonic's leg (not unheard of) or there may have been some mistranslation or misinterpretation of their beliefs.

I've also been told, although I haven't found any confirmation, that tomatoes were also once thought to turn into vampires. Supposedly, if they were picked ripe and didn't rot for three months they would have the power to drain all your blood in the middle of the night.