Foxglove

I’ve been trying to grow foxglove in my garden for years. The desire is, like many things in my garden, based partly on nostalgia because my mother used to grow beautiful foxgloves and partly due to the challenge of growing a new plant. But mostly it’s due to aesthetics because I find foxglove to be elegant and beautiful.

This year I had a bit of success as I found and purchased plants at a local nursery in early spring. I settled them into the space that I had planted foxglove seeds the fall before (with almost no success) and about two weeks ago they began to bloom.

Because they are so toxic, I put them in a place difficult for both dogs and children to reach. And they’ve done well. The spot is in semi-shade, has good, rich soil and good drainage. Everything I read about foxgloves indicates that they will “easily” reseed so I’ve provided bare ground underneath the fading blossoms and hope they do!

Digitalis purpurea is the species used most often in the garden and there are now seemingly endless numbers of varieties and cultivars that range from yellow and orange to white to the more traditional pink and purple. The bell shaped blossoms are arranged on a tall, graceful stalk. The shape of the flower has led to many common names (some say as many as 65 folk names). “Foxglove” has several possible origins, including a variation on the name “folk glove”, folk referring to the fairies and other little people. Another possible origin is that the name came from “fox’s glew,” a glew being an ancient bell shaped instrument.

It is Digitalis lanata that is the commercial source for the chemicals that are found in the drug digoxin that is used to treat heart disease. At present, the chemicals cannot be produced in a lab, meaning that we are still dependent on the plant itself for the components in the drug. Growing digitalis for commercial use is an intensive and time consuming project, since the plants have to be two years old before they are harvested and even then, the plant produces very small amounts of the glycosides. And, if you believe in superstition, the process is further complicated because folk healers believed that the plant only held medicinal powers if it was collected with the left hand!

The first documented use of foxglove as medicine is attributed to an English doctor, William Withering, who wrote of using the plant to treat a patient in the 1780s. The story is told that the patient regained her health – and that the good Dr. Withering eventually married her.

Although the plant has saved many lives, it’s good to remember that many species, including the garden variety, are poisonous and that they should be treated with care and admired at a distance.