The Foxglove



There is a public garden across the street from the church and at the moment it is filled with foxgloves. I took many pictures, and none do the scene justice, but here is a taste.

The foxglove is one of those interesting plants, not only for its beauty but because of its medicinal value. Digoxin (not dioxin, the toxic substance!) is made from foxgloves and is used to treat various cardiac conditions.

Speaking of cardiac conditions, my mother is back in the hospital because her internal bleeding returned rather quickly after she returned home last week. It may well be that some of the medications she takes to manage her various long-term conditions are working at cross purposes and her pharmaceutical regimen may need to be re-evaluated. She is in no danger and quite stable, being closely monitored now, and with a little more testing and some doctor consultations to be done in the next day or two, and some decisions after that about how she needs to be monitored in the coming weeks in order to regain her strength and to watch for how she is doing on a new drug regimen.

Meanwhile, the spring carries on in its glorious splendor. Soon enough we will be complaining about heat. But our little village here is quite pretty with foxgloves adorning gardens all over town.


Comments

Kathy said…
Penny, those foxgloves are glorious. In the UK the wild foxgloves are usually just purple, not this lovely mixture of colours.

I'm sorry to hear that your mother is back in hospital. It can be difficult to balance the different medications we need as we age, as we've found with DH's mother at times.
Perpetua, I didn't know that wild foxgloves only come in purple. This garden is so beautiful and there are several others around town that feature a smaller stand of them.

Mom is doing well but some real thought and care about what comes next for her is now in order. The medicines now available are nothing short of amazing and allow people to manage conditions that might have cut their lives short otherwise, but they do have to be balanced, as you say. I am sure this is in my own future as it seems to be the case for nearly everyone now.
LKT said…
I love foxgloves, too, but can't grow them in the yard because they're poisonous for the dogs, alas. These are gorgeous.

My prayers for your mother and all your family.
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