Dodgy Digitalis

When the girls were small and we lived in Bangor they loved to put on little plays in the garden. During one such performance I had to discourage them from using foxgloves as microphone stands - the flowers were just the right height for them to sing into!

We probably all have some relatively poisonous plants in the garden, but the effect of digitalis on the heart can be quite marked, even in low concentrations. It is one of the active ingredients in digoxin, which can be given to people with heart failure.

The use of active ingredients from plants in medicine is so interesting! The Botanic Garden in Oxford was formerly a 'physic garden' and you can have a really informative tour around the different plants used for medicinal purposes. Apparently a yew tree planted for its beauty rather than medicinal use in 1645 (now the oldest tree in the garden) has now joined the ranks of known life-saving plants, as yew is now used to provide the chemicals for two important anti-cancer drugs.

I know my photo of the foxglove has a sort of dodgy focus, but I liked it better than the one that was in focus as this one stands out quite boldly against the sky. I also photographed daisies again, but I thought I would spare you those.

Weather is still lovely here, but I am staying out of the sun today as I got a bit burnt yesterday........