Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Foxes and Foxgloves


This spring in Kentucky has been wet and chilly, but we’re finally seeing more sunshine and warmer temperatures. Flora and fauna are beginning to come out!

The baby foxes are now good-sized fluffy chubettes who can run like the wind. They are curious, wandering from their parents to explore a world that is more dangerous than they know. This morning, one of the babies got inside our fence. I looked out in time to see a flash of red fur fly by, with my Jack Russell at his heels. Fortunately, the little fox escaped under the fence.

My newest flower is a pink foxglove from Johnny’s Seeds, called “Pink Gin” digitalis. These plants started as tiny seedlings last March, and are just now producing flowers. The color is a light shell pink with reddish-brown speckles inside. 

I’m hoping they will be good bee plants. I had white foxgloves last year, which the bees absolutely adored. In the mornings, I would walk by and see bumblebee tushies peeking out from the flowers, where they had fallen asleep and spent the night. 

The first time I saw that, I was afraid the bees had died! But bumble bees are solitary—they don’t live in a hive with other bees, so they camp out at night. What better campsite than a silky flower filled with snacks?