The foxglove is a poisonous wild flower which produces Digitalin, an important drug in the treatment of heart complaints. There are several stories about how it got its common name. Apparently, bad fairies give the flowers to foxes to wear on their paws so they can sneak up on the chicken run....
We gardeners love the foxglove for its distinctive spires of spotted, purply-pink bells which the bees are attracted to. They like semi-shade, are biennial and seed readily which is essential to keep them ever-present in the garden. If the newly emerging plants are too dense, I just thin them out to a more sensible spacing. To colonise other parts of the garden, as soon as the seed is dry, I scatter it thinly and it comes up the following spring. Foxgloves particularly like the hedgerows and we don’t discourage them because they have usually finished flowering by the time the hedges need cutting. We have white as well as purple ones though there are modern varieties which I would like to try.
I only have one gripe against the foxglove. Sometimes they don’t grow straight. They twist and turn and then look lopsided. Why is that, I wonder? It is so annoying! I am afraid this one is going to get the chop!
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