The Foxglove Plant: Facts and Care for This Garden Beauty

"Foxglove" is the common name for Digitalis, a genus of about 20 different species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials. It has also been known by many other names through history, including Witches' Gloves, Dead Men's Bells, Fairy's Glove, Gloves of Our Lady, Bloody Fingers, Virgin's Glove, Fairy Caps, Folk's Glove, Fairy Thimbles, Revbielde and Fingerhut. The name Digitalis means "finger-like" and refers to the way in which a foxglove flower can easily fit over a human fingertip, like a miniature glove.

Foxglove is native to several geographic regions - western and south western Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa. However, it can thrive in nearly any climate and region hence its worldwide popularity today. In regions that experience high heat, foxglove do best in the shade, but in most other regions it thrives in full to partial sun. Foxgloves like well-drained, acidic soil that is rich in humus. Once established, foxglove plants can tolerate dry shade.

Foxglove plants are biennials grown from seeds, which will not produce flowers nor seeds until their second year. The best way to establish a thriving foxglove bed in your garden to bloom every year is to begin with some mature plants purchased from a nursery (or ordered on-line), planted at the same time as you scatter seeds. That way you will have a sequence of blooms every year, as some plants mature, flower and propagate seeds as others are just beginning to grow.

The most common ornamental variety of foxglove is the Digitalis purpurea - that is, the "Common foxglove." It produces flowers that range in shade from white and gray to purple and pink. Other varieties produce different color blooms, including yellow. Foxglove are generally tall plants once they reach their blooming times, with spires of flowers that can tower 2 to 5 feet high. Therefore they are a good choice for the back row of a garden where they can be established easily, with smaller annuals or spring bulb plants in front of them. Foxglove plants typically bloom in early summer although I have sometimes found them blooming even into the fall months, depending on the weather and climate.

Although foxglove plants attract birds and bees to your garden, they can be very dangerous to other animals - and humans! Every portion of the foxglove plant is dangerous if ingested - the leaves, the flowers, the seeds, even the plant's root system. Reports have even been made of poisoning simply by inhaling the spores produced by the foxglove's seed pods.

With this in mind, care should be taken if you have young children in your home, who may not understand the dangers of touching or eating outdoor plants. Small animals and pets could be at risk as well. In centuries past, foxglove was utilized by herbalists and folk doctors, yet even they recognized the dangers and volatile properties of foxglove if overdosed. Today, digitalin is scientifically extracted from foxglove and used as a treatment for heart conditions, as it can successfully controll heart rate and increase the ability of the heart to contract. However, too much digitalin can cause side effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice and blurred vision.