Foxy Findings

The foxgloves are starting to flower at last and I so love them. My biennials were a disaster this year as I didn't sow them early enough last year but, thank goodness, the good old foxys do their stuff regardless - popping up everywhere, we try to guess by the foliage, the wild whites from the purples, from the mertonensis (different leaves) from the Suttons Apricot, from Primrose Carousel, from Candy Mountain....and the list goes on. The T&M Illumination is rather disappointing - it flowered at Christmas and still looks rather pathetic - the flowers are just so....well..boring - small and spotless.

Foxgloves make great companion plants as they are kind to their neighbours and even kinder in a vase (albeit poisonous) - they prolong the life of your cut flowers. I think they float my boat because they signify this time of year which is still so full of promise, and so close to the summer solstice, with white nights and memories of post exam, all night celebrations - the thrill of the summer holidays stretching ahead, the wildness of youth, the carelessness of it all. 

I digress...back to grumpy old middle aged woman - my bones are aching, it's like winter outside, I worry for Ireland about anything and everything. Yet I still like to stick my camera into their flowers, on macro setting, and fantasise about living up there, as if I was an everlasting bee, happy and high on nectar.