Hi Pete,

Thank you for your email. Your article “Opium Poppy – Soul Stealer and Great Healer – Herb Garden Plants” was placed in Problem Status because it promotes growing opium poppies and contains details on opium use. This goes against our editorial guidelines so we would not be able to accept an article with this type of content. You may edit your article to remove any promotion of the drug opium, and once this is done, you may re-submit your article for approval.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Thank you,
xxxx

And my reply:

Xxxx, calling a plant a “soul stealer” can hardly be called promoting its virtues. It is a legitimate and widely grown herb garden plant, which is what my blog is about.

I note that my articles on aconite – a truly deadly poison – was OK’d for publishing. Was this because I did not “actively” promote it as a potential weapon in the article?

The article will be removed – I hope you do not mind if I post your comment on my blog and on Twitter.

Regards, Pete

Read banned article here.

Related Blogs

• Beware AminoSweet, Toxic Aspartame’s New Name | The Alex Constantine Anti Fascist Encyclopedia
• Learning About Herb Garden Plants
• To plant an herb garden is it better to get seeds or the plants already started? : Organic Home Gardening
• Lawn Care Is A Holistic Procedure | Green Herb Garden

Digitalis purpurea (Scrophulariaceae)

Appearance
One of the taller herb garden plants, the foxglove attains from 1 to 2m (3′ to 6′) in height and provides an early to midsummer flower show. It has tongue-shaped, deeply veined, soft and dark green attractive foliage, but its real crowning glory is its hanging steeple of purple/red bell-like flowers with a spotted inner face.

History
The stuff of mystery novels and intrigue, the Foxglove has an ancient provenance; it certainly goes back at least as far as the Anglo-Saxons. Its virtue of as a cardiological regulatory measure was only recognised by a Dr. Withering in the 18th century. the venerable Gerard counted it as one of his essential herb garden plants and recommended it as a poultice for severe bruising and external wounds. The migration to the New World of Foxglove was only accomplisher after the virtues involving the heart were recognised and publicised. Truly a wonder drug of the day, with its toxicity making it a Jekyll and Hyde amongst herb garden plants.

Usage
The cardiac glycosides extant in and obtained from Foxglove are used therapeutically in the treatment of cardiac failure, because of their anti-arrhythmic effects. As far as we can establish, no commercial synthetic drug has yet successfully superseded the cardiac glycosides that are obtainable from the foxglove and a few other sources. In spite of its extreme toxicity to man, its virtues give it an overweening importance as an absolutely essential healing medicinal herb.

Other sources of cardiac glycosides:
Plants.

• Strophanthus – ouabain
• Digitalis lanata – digoxin, digitoxin
• Nerium oleander – oleandrin

Animals.

• Bufo toads

Cultivation
The Foxglove it is a true biennial – its rosette of leaves is forms during the first year and the flower spike the second; thereafter the plant dies, but leaves a legacy in the form of a brood of offspring around it. It has been observed that a late-season rosette may hang in there for the second year and flower in the third.

Foxglove grows easily from seed, and once established there will always be some offspring about, in fact the Foxglove has a set pattern of broadcasting its seed to populate its patch with successive generations. Good rich soil with leaf mould makes the Foxglove a happy plant – although dappled shade tolerant, it prefers siting in full sun. A winter mulch of pine needles should be applied after the ground has frozen. Plants living in damp soil should be transferred to growing frames during winter for Spring replanting.

Related Blogs

• Pajamas Media » Spain Blames Economic Crisis on 'Anglo-Saxon …
• bactroban buy in singapore
• Efficacious recipe 300 (1)
• antibiotic alternative to keflex allergy
• Aloe Vera: Why It's A Great Plant Inside Your Herb Garden …
• Butea Superba Supports Man Erectile Capacity | Turakij 108 Health Club
• Herb Garden Plants Identification | Herb Garden Plants
• Planning An Herb Garden With Culinary Herbs, Medicinal Herbs and …
• Tips On How To Identify Your Plants Inside Your Herb Garden …
• The Benefits of Growing a Windowsill Herb Garden