Looking for something to do this weekend that is both educational and entertaining?  Then consider visiting the “Wicked Plants: Botanical Rogues & Assassins” exhibit at the Conservatory of Flowers located in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  Based on the best-selling book by Amy Stewart, “Wicked Plants” will fascinate and captivate you with sight, sound, and touch.  Music from a 1919 recording fills the room as you enter into the exhibit hall.  You will immediately notice the façade of a Victorian-era house with silhouettes of a man slumped over a table and a woman preparing for her get-away.  Moss-covered statues rise up from a seemingly overgrown, unkempt garden.  You can read excerpts from Ms. Stewart’s books from the placards around the hall, on how the plants on display have been used to inflict harm on unsuspecting individuals throughout history.  This exhibit runs until October 30, 2011.  Admission is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 per children.  For more information, please see http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/atconservatory/wicked2011.

Fountain surrounded by dangerous foliage. (photo by Betty Homer)