The garden ¦ A place to happen upon fairies and leprechauns.
A place where foxes go to buy their gloves and cats their tails”¦”
” From the poem “Into the Garden”
Many people who pass by my garden ask me about the foxgloves I grow, especially after our foxglove garden was featured on the cover of San Diego Home/Garden magazine in January 2002. With tall spikes of 2- to 3-inch bell-shaped flowers that have contrasting colored freckles in their throats, foxgloves come in varying hues of purple, pink and white and will add just the right touch of old-fashioned charm as well as dramatic vertical interest to your spring and early summer garden.
From the same family of plants as the snapdragon, foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea, derived from the Latin word digitabulum, which means “thimble”) are entrenched in folklore and medical history. Known in earlier time as “folk’s gloves,” it is said that the thimble-shaped flowers were used by the woodland fairies and elves as gloves. Some say that foxgloves were grown in early cottage gardens as a way to attract fairies that are said to bring good luck and fortune.
Used for many different medicinal treatments over the centuries, the plant is said to have been taken by Vincent Van Gogh to treat his epilepsy, and today it is used for the base of the heart medication Digitalin (Digoxin). Due to the foxgloves’ powerful medicinal properties, the plant’s leaves and flowers are considered very poisonous and should not be eaten. If you have children or pets that might wander into your garden and nibble on the leaves, you should not plant foxgloves in your garden.
Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees will flock to your garden to enjoy your foxgloves, which I have found are quite easy to grow. Foxgloves love our coastal environment and will thrive in rich, moist, well-drained soil. While they prefer a partially shaded area, in our coastal zone, the cooler weather will allow them to tolerate more sun. That said, the flowers seems to last longer if they are shaded from the afternoon sun.
March is the perfect time to plant 4-inch pots of foxgloves, which are now available at local nurseries. If you plant the smaller six-pack size, you will most likely have flowers a little later in mid-May and June. I usually plant some of the smaller plants along with the larger 4-inch pots of foxgloves to ensure flowers through the early months of summer. Foxgloves are biennial and if you plant them from seed, they will take two years to flower “this is why I prefer the “growing” plants.
Before planting, I prepare my flowerbeds with a mix of organic mulch and earthworm castings (I mix Xero mulch with Worm Gold). I use the taller varieties, Giant Shirley or Camelot, that can grow between 5 to 8 feet in the background and the hybrid Foxy, which only grows 2 to 3 feet, for the foreground. Giant Shirley is harder to find and usually comes in six-packs.
Plant your plants at least 1 foot apart from each other, since the mature leaves are large. In sunnier areas of my garden, I also plant delphiniums and larkspur along with foxgloves for a colorful spring display with the addition of blues and deeper purples. Foxgloves also do well in pots, but make sure to use a large-enough pot to accommodate the plant. I have several white Camelot foxgloves growing in 5-gallon pots on my patio.
Keep your plants happy, feeding them at least once a month with organic kelp-based or fish emulsion fertilizer. When close to maturity, foxgloves will produce a main flower spike from the center of the plant, and as the spike grows, it should be supported with a bamboo stake. This will ensure that springtime wind and rain will not cause your flower spike to break off.
As the main flower spike begins to bloom, other smaller spikes will begin to appear, and as the main spike fades, the smaller ones will continue to bloom for a few more weeks. If you have room in your garden, you can let the main spike go to seed and let the seeds naturalize in your garden. Foxgloves produce literally hundreds of seeds.
Since most of the hybrid varieties only last a year or two, I find that removing the plants each year and replacing them the following year cuts down on the number of snails and slugs in my garden. These are the only pests that seem to attack my foxgloves, and they love the large sheltering leaves and the shaded environment where they grow. While my foxgloves are growing, I regularly use Sluggo snail and slug bait that is not harmful to pets and the environment to keep these pests away. Bark mulch and crumbled eggshells also do the trick.
So, invite a little old-fashioned whimsy into your garden with foxgloves, and who knows, maybe the garden fairies will bestow you with good luck and fortune!
” Linda is a local Realtor with Coldwell Banker who specializes in historic and architecturally designed homes. She is a co-founder of the Secret Garden Tour of Old La Jolla that benefits the La Jolla Historical Society and enjoys working in her historic La Jolla garden every chance she gets. www.LindaMarrone.com voicemail: (858) 456-3224.