Well, I like it so I planted pots and sowed seeds anyway, so we'll see how it goes. I especially hope the white ones will grow: what a beautiful plant.

Jerome, I think of this foxglove as a cool climate plant, but I've seen it planted in SC zone 8b. I wouldn't say it thrived, but provided a nice short-lived show prior to the heat of summer.

Hi! I'm in northern California (outside San Francisco, zone 10a) and have had foxgloves for several years. My original plants, I dug up from my grandpa's garden in 2003 when he passed away, and I haven't been without them since. Generally, foxglove is regarded as a biennial (i.e. it sends up a rosette of foliage the first year, blooms the second year, then dies, but usually results in many self seeded volunteers), but some varieties like strawberry foxglove (d. mertonensis), chocolate foxglove (d. parviflora) and others, are true perennials. But since we have an atypical climate, some things which are perennials elsewhere are indeed annuals here (such as tulips, for instance!) But who's complaining, when the vast majority of our situation is the opposite: I have snapdragons which live for literally years, and brugmansias bloom and even thrive in December! Pansies never die, etc.
SO, after all my rambling, I don't know if I really answered your question or not. But I CAN tell you that I've had blooming sized plants ever since those original ones of my grandpas, 4 years ago. I'm pretty sure they're self seeded volunteers from those first plants and on down the line, so it makes it seem like a perennial anyway. But at any rate, I think they're worth it! Very little care required, and the blooms are so spectacular!

Amanda 'romando'

Thanks for the input rhizo_1. Amanda, thanks for your reply too. I am just going to go for it. I put in potted plants earlier (various colors) and bought several packets of the white variety seeds. I could not believe how tiny the seeds were, spore-like. Glad I didn't sneeze when I opened the packet, or I'd have been out $3.95!

I am just going to work the soil bed and sow them, along with delphinium seeds, and see what happens.

I grew foxglove from seed a couple of years ago, and they bloomed beautifully the first year....glorious the second year. I started them in flats, however, and transplanted them as they grew to a managable size.

I've been growing foxgloves for several years, usually the biennial type (Foxy, etc.), and they've reseeded and done well. I had a Foxy over 6' once, but usually 4'. I once had the yellow perennial type, but it petered out after a couple of years. I'm going to try again with another perennial this year and see.

In my limited experience (two years now) they do fine. I planted them last year and 50% of them bloomed that year. The rest of them wintered over and are now ginormous. The ones that bloomed are now a little scrawny, but they are still alive and growing in spite of the fact that they should have died. My biggest complaint is that the flower spikes were not very tall (maybe 3'). I think I planted a dwarf variety, but I don't recall. I planted mine under a sycamore, so from January to March they get full sun and then they get less and less sun until by May they get maybe 1-2 hours per day at most. They seem to like this difficult (for most plants) environment. Not a lot else overwintered in that same bed except for some primrose and rose bushes (which get tall enough to see a bit more sun).

I'm frustrated with both delphiniums & foxglove in coastal sc. I'm going to try them in part shade this year. I have seen foxglove in full sun every year in some places in town. I don't know if they have reseeded every year or what but they are a good 5'. I'm also going to try the miracle grow crystals in the soil with them. I read a article online saying delphiniums for sw need to be grown from seed & not cuttings like in the east. ??

Ps. I've also read u can grow them in containers... so if u need to move them to more shaded areas in summer that maybe helpful.

Instead of digitalis purpurea, you might try a Mediterranean variety such as the shrubby d.obscura or d.ferruginea. Or better yet, the isoplexis/digitalis hybrids such as the Illumination series are sterling performers for the S.cal gardens