Finally, the season is again swinging away from mostly cold weather to warmer weather. Don’t get me wrong, I had a heck of a great winter, skiing more than 40 days in the nearby, rolling Pocono Mountains, at the iconic Matterhorn peak on the Swiss/Italian border of the Alps, on the majestic slopes of Deer Valley in Utah and on the challenging flanks of the ominous volcano Mount Bachelor in Oregon.
But weeks before my ski season was schussing toward its end, I’d already been planning fishing trips, bicycle trips and garden activities. All of the mountain villages and places I just mentioned have their own unique set of folkloric traditions and beliefs, but when it comes to agriculture, from simple gardens to large farms, many of the superstitions once held close as truth in those faraway places also traveled with early pioneers from the old world to the new and became rooted here in America as lore for the ages.
I bought a package of 125,000 foxglove seeds this year, and I intend on liberally sprinkling them around open areas in our garden areas. Scientifically known as Digitalis, which in Latin means fingers, the plant is native to Europe, Western Asia and Northwestern Africa, but it has found its way to fields and gardens in North America.
Modern medicine derives a cardiac medicine known as digoxin from the plant, and ancient herbal medicine had various uses for the plant and its extracts. Native Americans brewed a tea from digitalis that was used to treat swelling in the legs, most likely caused by heart problems. A word of caution, though, digitalis can be toxic so perhaps it’s best to just plant and admire the gorgeous blooms that eventually appear.
So, why is Dave planting digitalis, you might ask. Good question, and it has to do with my affinity to explore folk traditions and culture.
In some cultures, foxgloves are said to be a favorite plant of fairies where they play in the trumpet part of the bell of the floral bloom. Apparently, if you grow foxgloves and later see speckles inside of the flowers, it is a clear indication that your garden and flowers have been visited and watched over by fairies.
Just like having gnomes in your garden, having fairies in your garden is thought to be advantageous because they help to keep mischievous or thieving animals, bugs and maybe even humans away.
Legend has it that you should never bring foxglove into your home because, even though you planted and nurtured the flowers, the fairies consider foxglove to be their property, and they don’t take kindly to you stealing from them just so you can decorate the inside of your house.
If you pluck the foxglove flowers, you might really vex the fairies, and they might seek revenge on you by playing tricks and bringing bad luck to your home.
I’m sure you’ve heard knock on wood as something said to summon up good luck. Well guess what? That saying originated with a belief that if you needed help in your garden you could wander around the woods literally knocking on tree trunks in hopes of finding a group of fairies, at which point, your knocking would wake them up from their sleeping place within the tree trunk and you could petition them for whatever help you need.
For some reason, fairies get cross if you pick foxglove but don’t mind at all if you knock on their tree trunk and rouse them from a deep sleep.
I like to ponder such folklore. With this one, I sat back, thought about it for a moment and came up with a possible motive for the legend.
Since foxglove can be toxic, it makes sense not to harvest and display it in your home. What if children or pets ingested it? What if you were sleepwalking and decided to have it for a midnight snack? I mean, I don’t know, anything is possible.
To scare or teach people not to bring it into the home, a legend is created, and the legend teaches that you will anger an entity that could potentially be helpful by bringing good fortune to your garden, but only if you don’t take foxglove into your abode.
Easy enough I think. No foxglove in the house in exchange for fairies protecting the garden and helping to grow you a good yield of sustaining veggies and such. No foxglove in the house, no accidental poisonings. This makes perfect sense.
If I manage to grow any foxgloves to their flower-bearing stage, I’ll be sure to look for fairy speckles on the inside of the flowers. If I see some, I’ll report back to you. Meanwhile, it’s time to get your garden ready. So, get to it and enjoy the experience.
Dave Kline is an award-winning writer, photographer, show host and producer, singer-songwriter, travel guide and community advocate. Reach him at davesmountainfolklore@gmail.com.
