Foxgloves, a Witchy Wednesday article.
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| Foxgloves and bees in my garden last year 2024. |
Foxgloves a Witches favourite.
I have always loved Foxgloves! Each year no matter how things in my universe are I always try and grow some my favourite flowers in my little garden. They have always fascinated me, as a child my grandmother used to tell me that wherever Foxgloves grew there was a blurring of our world and the world of the fairy folk. That when they gently swayed when there was no wind it was because there were fairies near by fluttering their wings and causing a gentle draught.
There are many folk stories around Foxgloves involving fairies, also known as Ladies fingers, deadmans bells, Witches gloves, Goblin gloves and Witches thimbles.
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| A FLORAL FANTASY IN AN OLD ENGLISH GARDEN BY WALTER CRANE Public domain. |
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| Foxglove fairies from Enid Blyton Foxglove Story book |
Some say they are homes for fairies, that they are places for fairies to sleep or that the thimble shaped flowers are used for items of clothing.
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| Beautiful botanical drawing. |
Other folktales suggest that the spots inside Foxglove flowers were created by fairy hand or foot prints. Because of the association with fairies and Foxgloves it was also said picking or digging them up would offend the fairyfolk bring the picker bad luck!
Foxgloves and Witchcraft!
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The saying "it can raise the dead or kill the living" refers to the foxglove plant, which contains a cardiac glycosides used today in modern heart medicine. While this days the use of Foxgloves can be a life-saving medication, it past has been associated with witchcraft as it is extremely poisonous in large doses. So I must stress please not eat Foxgloves or try to concote your potions using any part of the plant including seeds. Please just stick to admiring them in your garden and leave the magic of modern potion making to the professionals!
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| Image sourced from Pinterest. Pinterest is a great place to find images and ideas on flowers and gardening. |
The joy of foxgloves, from a gardeners point of view, is that not only are they are joy to behold, attracting insects especially bees into the garden but they are slug and snail resistant! The foxglove plant contains a toxic compound one of which is called Digoxin which is poisonous. All parts of the plant, including the leaves, flowers, and seeds, are toxic. Foxglove contains cardiac glycosides, which are naturally occurring poisons that affect the heart, causing cardiac arrhythmias, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and potentially even cardiac failure or death if ingested. So always be mindful when planting with regard to pets and people. Saying this I would advice caution with all plants and so not to cause alarm many plants have lived quite happily and never been the cause of any issues to humans or pets! I have had Dogs and Cats who have happily lived together in harmony with Foxgloves, Tulips, Daffodils, Ivy, Blue Bells, Cyclamen to name a few! A bit of common sense is really the key and also knowledge of the plants that inhabit your garden. Wear Gloves and always wash your hands and you will be perfectly fine.
You may see an odd munch hole in Foxgloves leaves but usually by one much the snail or slug has realised it's rather horrible and moved on! I know my great grandfather used to used Foxgloves as a barrier to more slug sensitive plants.
The other joy of Foxgloves are that they are self seeding. Once flowers leave the flowers to go to seed. You can then collect the seeds to resow in other areas of the garden or gift them to friends as gifts. So buying one Foxglove plant from a garden centre can really be good value long term.
Some interesting articles on Foxgloves both about the folklore and growing them plus places to order Foxglove seeds. Please note that these are just recommendations. I am not responsible for external links.
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/nature/incredible-tale-foxglove
https://www.homesandgardens.com/news/monty-dons-growing-foxglove-tips
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/5862/digitalis-purpurea/details
https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-foxgloves/
https://www.waitrosegarden.com/search/_/search.foxgloves/
https://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_463a_digitalis_purpurea_true_wild_form_seeds
https://www.sarahraven.com/seeds/foxglove-seeds
https://www.suttons.co.uk/flower-seeds/foxglove-seeds
Thank you for visiting my blog. Please join me next week for another WW. Kat 😊
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