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Foxglove

May 24, 2022

TUBULAR BLOSSOMS CREATE

Dramatic Effects

Foxglove is a stunning flower with tubular blossoms that have speckled throats. The plant creates a dramatic effect with its tall spires of flowers.

These easy-to-care-for, quick-growers will give a wonderful display to your garden with a lovely rustic, cottage-style touch.

Dignitas Sugar Plum

Foxes Glofa

Foxglove (digitalis) means: The Anglo-Saxon name was “foxes glofa” (“the glove of the fox”) because it looked like it would fit a fox’s paw. The Latin name, “digitalis” comes from the word “digit” or finger, since it was easy to fit a finger inside the flowers. The plant is native to Europe, the Mediterranean region, and the Canary Islands. Digitalis was eventually found to contain a powerful heart-stimulating drug. The amount of the drug varies depending on the part of the plant and even the time of year.

Foxgloves produce spikes of tubular, bell-shaped flowers that come in a wide range of colors – purple, pink, white, yellow, and red. The plant can grow from 1 – 1.5 meters / 3 to 5 feet tall, which makes them a perfect plant for adding vertical interest to a garden. 

Biennials

Foxgloves are biennial flowers, meaning they last for only two seasons before dying off. However, foxgloves self-seed easily, so letting the plant go to seed means any seeds that drop from mature flowers are likely to germinate and grow the following season.

Toxic

Bear in mind that all parts of foxgloves are poisonous, and can kill an adult human if any part of the plant is ingested. You may want to avoid growing them if you have pets prone to eating garden plants.

Foxglove
Foxglove Apricot Beauty

Light

Grow foxgloves in moist but well-drained soil in full sun to full shade – some varieties are more shade tolerant than others. Deadhead spent blooms after flowering to encourage a second flush or let them self seed over the garden.

Growing

Most foxgloves thrive in dappled shade. Their preferred native habitat is a woodland clearing or at the foot of a native hedge. However, some species, such as Digitalis parviflora and Digitalis obscura, require full sun to grow well. Foxgloves will grow in any soil type but do best in well-drained, moist soil. Avoid planting foxgloves in very wet or very dry soil.

Foxglove
Foxglove

Self-seeding

Foxgloves self-seed readily in the garden. All you need to do to ensure foxgloves disperse their seed is to avoid deadheading the flowers until seeds have developed and ripened. You can then either collect fresh seed and scatter it directly where you want foxgloves to grow. 

Care

Foxgloves are trouble-free plants. You may need to protect young plants from slugs and snails. The caterpillars of some moths eat foxglove leaves and flowers, but these caterpillars are food for baby birds in spring, so it’s best to leave them be.

Utilizing fertilizer on these plants once a month is ideal to maintain the type of soil that you need to encourage growth in the plant.

Digitalis Camelot Mix

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