Foxgloves - a must for every bee-friendly garden!

It's mid-June, and even on a cold, drizzly day the foxglove flowers are full of bees. A beautiful native wildflower.

[@suewright1299]

I adore Foxgloves Dave, and everything about them. As you pointed out the inside of them is really beautiful. I never knew until today from you that the pollen was so very high up ruling out so many Bees from being able to partake the pollen high up, amazing! I saw George McGiven on Twitter (I’ll never be able to use the initial it’s been given 😡) yesterday saying he had watched a patch of his Foxgloves for ages and didn’t see many, if any, using it!! Are you still the normal amounts of Bees going in/out as we’ve been used to for many years? Very many thanks indeed for another wonderful video 😊

[@richardb2716]

Foxgloves are buzzing here in the garden but also in the Devon banks along all the lanes.

[@kennethgreen2829]

Hi Dave, thanks for yet another great video. Fox gloves are one of my favourite plants and the bumbles in my garden just love them.

[@Schorsch123]

Do you know that in German they are called „thimble“. 😆

[@patrickboyle7067]

They are Glorious. I have planted ten foxglove plants around the garden this year and hoping for lots of self-seeding. The weather here in Dublin is similarly unexciting and chilly..

[@gtweak7]

I was fortunate to have grown a foxglove that reached height of over 195 cm (or over 6 ft 5 in) in its final stage, I collected its seeds and estimated that there were between 120,000 and 150,000 of them, which is impressive in my opinion. Here in Poland, the common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is not native and regarded as an invasive species, but - personally - I fail to see how and where. Similarly with lupine, although it can actually suppress other plants nearby if established. Anyway, I will not quit cultivating these two species, because they are invaluable for bumblebees. Foxglove for the nectar, and lupine for pollen, and I can't see other bees being successful in collecting pollen from the latter. It seems that they evolved as if to be pollinated just by bumblebees, and if gardeners do not incorporate this kind of plants in their gardens, the bumblebees will die. Their range is significantly smaller than that of honey bees, and I think that many small patches of wildflowers might help, but people need to start thinking beyond a lawn with thujas.

[@clivejones7921]

Fabulous Foxgloves display. I knew they were a great plant for bumblebees but didn't appreciate they were so selective for long-tongued species. Is this a plant where some bee species bite holes in the sides of the flower close to the nectaries to reach the nectar? And do the beautiful patterns on the inner surface of the tube reflect ultraviolet light to further attract bees?

[@betsygodwin8938]

I just found your channel! I discovered a bumblebee nest at my home because bumblebees are going in and out of the siding. It’s exciting to know what’s inside there! I fell upon your site because you showed what bumblebee nests look like in an earlier video!!!!! Love it so so much! And I love having bumblebees in a nest!

[@jane9875]

I love foxgloves used to have loads on the farm where I grew up

[@EstherV359]

Love this - they are glorious in our garden too this year, and looks like we have the potential for a good display next year too 🤞. And we have some spectacularly large bees rattling into the flowers, the flowers drop off after a particularly zealous visit!

[@Sköldpadda-77]

No luck growing the non-native (to me) Digitalis purpurea, aka common foxglove, but great success growing Penstemon digitalis, aka foxglove beard tongue, which is native to Missouri. Smaller flower, white and not as showy but it still attracts bumblebees, mason bees, and hummingbirds. Both plants are in Plantaginaceae, so cross-Atlantic cousins I suppose. Which begs the question, is everyone else here in the UK? Am I the only American? Just curious.

[@ingekaivola4685]

Colorado here ... Penstemons grow well here, next to Pikes Peak. I haven't tried foxgloves.

[@Karincl7]

Euhn not uk not american but Belgium

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

I have an abundance of foxgloves yet the flower stems fall over on a lot of them. Think I transplanted them a little late and into exceptionally fertile soil.

[@h0llytr0n]

I sowed a bunch of foxglove seeds in some pots a couple of months back and they won't seem to grow past that tiny half-a-centimeter leaf stage! i'm not sure if they'll fair any better if i spread them about in the ground, or if they're not going to progress this season, it's very odd. Will keep at it! thanks for another cool video.

[@antraxxslingshots]

They should be bi-anual. Meaning in one year they will only be s very small plant with a few leaves and retract completetly in the autumn/winter. They next year they will appear again and bloom. After they seed, they die. So seeding two years in a row is recommended. Hollyhock are behaving the same.

[@h0llytr0n]

@@antraxxslingshots thank you I suppose they have all autumn to keep growing then!

[@Karincl7]

I had a bunch of foxgloves planted (the common one) but only one survived, way to wet I guess

[@flowerfairy1950]

I think it is appalling how 'they' keep focussing on how poisonous and dangerous Foxgloves and other plants are. Yes, I know they are, but I doubt there are many who walk around eating them.