As the bluebells fade and the hedgerows start to lose their lustre, the Foxgloves make their grand entrance. Standing stiffly to attention, parading our highways and byeways in a gloriously colourful guard of honour. They are the spiky purple heralds of the approaching summer that transport us back to childhood, evoking nostalgiac recollections of the like of Beatrix Potter’s Jemima Puddleduck and the “foxy whiskered gentleman”, or Cicely Mary Barker’s beautiful flower fairy poems and illustrations:
“Foxglove, Foxglove
What do you see?”
The cool green woodland
The fat velvet bee;
Hey, Mr Bumble,
I’ve honey here for thee!
“Foxglove, Foxglove,
What see you now?”
The soft summer moonlight
On branches, grass and bough;
And all the fairies dancing
As only they know how
Embedded deep in our folklore they have been both feared for their deadly poison (Agatha Christie has despatched her victims with it ) and revered for their protective and healing properties. The poison, Digitalis, is also a medicine – it is a glyoside used to treat heart disease and has been used for centuries, evident in records going back to the 1300s.
Their presence is both indicative of fairies and can attract them. According to ancient myth and legend if you plant them in your garden, the fairies will follow. Indeed their name may well have been derived from this association: “folksglove” referring to the fairy folk. Or the name could have come from the belief that foxes would put the flowers on their paws to protect them from the dew – hence “fox gloves”. The other possibility is that it came from the Anglo Saxon: “foxes-gleow”, “gleow” means ring of bells. Other legends allude to foxes wearing the foxglove bells around their necks to protect them from hunters. One more, rather charming, piece of folklore is that the foxglove spires bend, not because of the wind, but because they are bowing in deference to the passing fairy folk.
However their name came about, the Foxgloves look magnificent at the moment. The main picture and the ones below were taken in Aveton woods a few years ago. A large area of conifers had been felled, cleared and re planted with broadleaf trees. Thousands of Foxgloves sprang up on the disturbed ground, gracing us with the most amazing spectacle, the like of which I have not seen before or since.
Foxgloves are welcome visitors to our garden too, there is never a wrong place for them. They always surprise and delight us each year by popping up in unexpected places.
Never Mind the Bullocks 