Re: [SG] Foxgloves finished blooming!

Melissa--the ordinary garden foxglove (which I assume is what you have) is
biennial.  That means that it grows during its first season, blooms the
second season, and then dies.  So you need to completely discard all the
old plants.

HOWEVER if you want to have foxgloves next year in the same place, leave 2
or 3 spikes to go to seed, then when the capsules open, shake the stalks
vigorously to distribute the fine seed.  If the bed is kept watered, in a
few weeks' time you will see many, many seedlings.  Thin them out to stand
about a foot apart.  They will grow into large healthy plants by fall and
bloom next spring, at which time the process can be repeated.  If foxgloves
are allowed to go to seed, they will soon spread to many places in the
garden (this has happened in my garden and when a foxglove comes up in a
particular bed, I have to decide to leave it or pull it out) and you must
remember that they can make very large plants and crowd others out.

Perhaps more controlled solution is to raise new plants from seed each year
by starting them in the spring.  Then when you take out the old ones, mix
plenty of compost with the soil and set out the new plants.  But I have
found that transplanted foxgloves are never the equal of self-sown
undisturbed plants, which can reach 6-7 feet and produce a dozen spikes.

Having written that, I should say that very, very rarely a biennial
foxglove plant will survive for another year if the basal rosette of leaves
is still healthy when the stalk is cut down close to the base.  But this
almost never happens and the resulting plant is often not very vigorous.

My favorite strain of garden foxglove is 'Glittering Prizes' from Thompson
and Morgan.  They are very tall, with classic drooping flowers, and have a
good color range with most being heavily spotted inside the blooms.  'John
Innes Tetra' is a strain of yellow to orange foxgloves on shorter stems and
with smaller, 5-lobed flowers.  I don't much like 'Foxy' which often blooms
the first year from seed and then dies out.  'Shirley' has tall spikes with
outward-facing blooms all around the spike--very formal appearance.  T&M
this past year introduced a 'Primrose' strain in yellow shades.  I have
some plants going but will not see them until next year.  So-called
'Peloric' or 'Monstrosa' foxgloves have regular spikes, then a huge single
bowl-shaped flower at the top of the stem.  Definitely a novelty item only.

Foxgloves grow best in light shade or partial sun here in Virginia.  In New
England they take full sun readily.  The soil must be light and organic,
never drying out, but also have perfect drainage lest the plants die out
over the winter from root rot.  About the only pest is spider mite, which
can be a problem when the weather is hot and dry.

There are other species of foxglove which are true, if sometimes
short-lived, perennials.  These are not easy to find but are very
worthwhile.  Many of the species have thin, wand-like stems with small
yellow flowers that make wonderful mass plantings (they seed around freely,
too).  Others grow in full sun, have glossy leaves, and spikes of brown to
brassy flowers that are tightly packed like long, tall hyacinths.  The
foxglove world is worth exploring!

A foxglove relative for patio containers is Isoplexus.  This is a perennial
shrub that has short, foxglove-like spikes of orange flowers.  It is not
hardy north of Z8 and not particularly easy to grow, but very striking if
it works.

Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
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