1. A plant that only flowers at night

You might not be able to see it in all its glory, but something enchanting happens in Walmer Castle's glasshouse overnight.

Epiphyllum, also known as 'Queen of the Night' or 'Orchid Cactus', is a succulent plant that only flowers in the evening.

During the day, Epiphyllum looks rather non-descript among the other foilage in the glasshouse. At night, it's known to have some 25-30 large white flowers in full bloom. Then, come morning, the flowers have wilted again.

Originally from South America, the Queen of the Night isn't typically pollinated by bees, instead, by moths and bats.

It was brought to Walmer Castle by the Lord Warden's wife in around 2008 and remains a fascinating addition to the glasshouse to this day. It's likely to flower until mid-September.

3. Osborne's storybook fungi

Look out for a colourful spread of fungi growing across the gardens at Osborne, Queen Victoria's holiday home on the Isle of Wight.

The early fungi are usually spotted by trees, although we think the best place to admire them – at a distance – is in the lawn areas where the vibrant red heads pop against the green grass.

Right through to the first frost, the wild fungi can cover the lawns in small but brightly coloured patches, making a spectacular sight for garden explorers.

The scarlet toadstools dotted with white spots are known as fly agaric (pictured) but you might also spot other varieties over the autumn like waxcaps or Clavulinas. But do watch your step. They may look enchanting but these fungi can be extremely poisonous so please leave them where they are and look, but don't touch.

5. A medicinal plant... with teeth!

A plant with teeth might sound like something from the Little Shop of Horrors musical, but that's the myth behind henbane found at Mount Grace Priory, House and Gardens this autumn.

According to the medieval Doctrine of Signatures, plants that resemble a part of the human body were intended by God to be a cure for diseases that affected that area.

Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is said to resemble teeth along a jawline, owing to its jagged autumn seed pods (pictured).

Therefore it's believed this is one of the reasons henbane was used to treat toothaches during the medieval period.

We grow henbane at Mount Grace to mirror the gardening carried out by the Carthusian monks in the 15th century. 

During the autumn, our gardens' team gathers pods from the tiny henbane seeds which then undergo a long period of refrigeration to induce germination. The seedlings are then carefully transplanted and grown under glass before being reintroduced to their garden setting in spring.