Foxglove

Let's start with a picture:

And there they are, my pale yellow foxglove.  As you can see, they are nearing full bloom.  Foxglove is one of those flowers that makes me stop in my tracks and consider, if indeed there is a "creator," how absolutely clever and aesthetic he/she/it is!  Little bells climbing up a stalk?  Ingenious!

The name for foxglove is digitalis.  Sounds like a heart medication, doesn't it?  Well, yes, the foxglove leaves contain digitalis, a potent heart medicine, and therefore, foxglove is considered poisonous.  But the name means finger-like and refers to the ease with which the flower can be fitted over a human fingertip.  So, yes, you can go try one on to see if it fits . . . but don't stick your fingers in your mouth!

According to the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension, "The name foxglove is from the old English name "foxes glofa." It comes from an old myth that foxes must have used the flowers to magically sheath their paws as they stealthily made their nocturnal raids into the poultry yards of rural folk. The association is natural for the foxgloves grew on the wooded hillside slopes that foxes chose for their dens." 

Okay.  But foxglove has other names, too:  Witches' Gloves, Dead Man's Bells, Fairy's Glove, Gloves of Our Lady, Bloody Fingers, Virgin's Glove, Fairy Caps, Folk's Glove, and Fairy Thimble.  (Amazing that the same plant can be called both Gloves of Our Lady and Bloody Fingers. Talk about Good and Evil . . . )

Whatever you call them, foxglove is just another joy in the spring/summer garden.  By this time, there's something new nearly every day.  It's been a rainy week, so I haven't been spending as much time in the gardens.  In fact, the foxglove caught me by surprise.  But what a surprise!  The forecast for the weekend is a good one, so you will find me sitting amid the foxglove, maybe trying them on my fingertips . . . but I promise you, I will wash my hands thereafter!  Such a small price to pay for being in glove.  I mean love.