One of my complaints about my garden this year was the proliferation of foxgloves – they were everywhere. But that was before they started to bloom and they are fabulous.
Musings on foxgloves
Bee in foxglove by Robert Williams
Foxgloves, foxgloves everywhere in Anne's garden...
Foxgloves by Anne Williams
I have colours ranging from white through the palest pink to a deep magenta. There are short ones, ones with masses of flower bells close together and some with the bells spread over a long stem. There’s even one that has a red stem. I never realised foxgloves could be so diverse and spending time in the garden has made me appreciate them enormously.
And the bees absolutely love them! The patterns inside each bell are so lovely to look at, each one is a work of art in my opinion.
Caterpillar with fungal growth by Anne Williams
There was also something interesting on the back of one of the foxglove leaves, a fungal growth on a caterpillar. Thanks to fellow Doorstep Wildlife blogger, Rosemary Winnall, I learnt that the spores land on a host and start to grow, changing the behaviour of the host. It will move to a high place from which the spores can disperse. Isn’t nature clever, if a bit gruesome at times?!
Anne loves gardening and wildlife so aims to combine the two wherever she can. Her garden is a fairly typical of most houses with a patio close to the house and room for growing plants beyond that.
Pale pink foxglove flowers by Anne Williams