Kitchen Garden Forum

A visiting friend, seeing me pulling up foxgloves now they're starting to self-seed, warned me of the danger of growing them near vegetables because of their poisonous qualities and of the recommendation always to wear gloves when handling them. . I must confess that I've been growing them in a border on the edge of my veggie patch for years and always yank them out without gloves. My own supposition was that they were only dangerous if you ate any part of them but I'm wondering now whether I've been a little cavalier in my treatment of them all these years. They make such a lovely display I'd be reluctant not to grow them. Any thoughts?

Hi Primrose

Foxgloves are certainly poisonous if eaten - I don't expect your vegetables will eat them
They will not harm you if handled. If handling them causes irritation wear gloves; if not, just remember to wash your hands afterwards.

I have never had any problems - I grow them on the veg plot and I never wear gloves to handle and I have sensitive skin!!!

I've never had any problems either and like to grow them for the bees. Apparently my friend gathered this information from a TV programme she saw a while back. I now have two large envelopes absolutely brimming with foxglove seeds so will do a little casual sprinkling on the banks of one or two footpaths and patches of ground near us in the hope of giving the bees even more happy hunting in future years. Unfortunately our local council often send contractors round cutting back grass and nettles before some wild flowers have had a chance to seed so my efforts may not come to much fruition.

Primrose, keep sprinkling the seed around - hopefully some will grow and produce flowering plants.
I do the same in the woods at the back of my mums house. I've not been successful yet as I suspect the seeds are eaten by the wildlife. I did transplant some young plants this year which have flowered and set seed. Hopefully the "self sown" seed will produce a colony of plants for next year.

I think it helps to go walkabout with seeds with a hand gardening trowel or fork so that you can roughen up the soil first, giving the seeds a better chance to get covered and germinate. A lot of spare ground can be very compacted, giving the seeds less chance of survival. I must have collected several thousand seeds from my dred foxglove heads this year so hopefully some of them will make a new life for themselves.

Primrose wrote:... giving the seeds a better chance to get covered and germinate.

Foxgloves need light to germinate, so rough the soil up, for sure, to remove compaction, but don't bury the seeds.

Thanks for that advice Felix. I had a wander along our local footpath with my trowel and foxglove seeds this morning, and had a generous sprinkle along the way, so hope that at least a few of them will germinate amd bloom next year. . My past experience in the garden is that so many of them germinate that they don't all survive as they crowd each other out. When I see the vast sums of money being charged for individual foxglove plants in garden centres, I sometimes think I should go into business selling them. They pop up everywhere in the garden - in cracks between paving stones, in the vegetable patch, on the compost heap. I guess being so tiny they're easily blown around by the wind or carried on the back of birds or other insects.