Question about Foxglove

16 years ago

Hi Everyone -

I noticed our wonderful huge drug store which has a huge nursery - has a bunch of foxglove in 4 inch pots for only $3. If I plant them, will they bloom this year? Does anyone have any recommendation for or against?

thanks for any info.

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Comments (5)

girlgroupgirl
16 years ago
Well, it depends!
There are some biennial foxglove. If it is a one year old plant it will bloom, if not it won't until next year. Ask at the nursery to see if they know.
Foxy foxglove will probably bloom for you this year. Let it reseed as it is a biennial which can sometimes act as an annual depending on your climate and how early the seed germiniates.
Digitalis grandiflora and D. lutea are perennial and generally bloom the 2nd year from seed. Both will reseed nicely for you too.

GGG
buzzy
16 years ago
the most common foxglove is Digitalis purpurea (not necessarily purple) - it's officially biennial, but if the plant is sizeable and healthy it can bloom the first year and the second...and if it likes your neighborhood it can even become a short-lived perennial. They have naturalizaed here so they like the conditions, and those in my garden live about 4 years.

So if yours are purpurea and large enough, they just might bloom.
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I would cut it back. My Foxgloves are already cut way back, and I pulled out the real ratty-looking ones. I kept a few smaller seedheads to collect some seed. Some plants will come back for 3rd year, especially if they don't exhaust themselves going to seed, but I start them from seed every year to be sure to have nice blooms in the Spring. Once the tall seedheads get to the end of blooming they don't look good anymore and I would cut them back even earlier if it weren't for the fact that the bumblebees just love the flowers.
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Oh My! If that thing gets 6 ft. tall, I'm in huge trouble! It's in a perennial flowerbed, behind my Moonbeam and Limerock Ruby Coreopsis, Gailardia, and in front of dahlias that are inside the support cages. Here's a picture, taken on the 8th of June. I was standing in my vegetable garden, taking this picture. All of the flowers have grown and filled in the bed, but nothing like that foxglove. You can see a few blooms from the other, much smaller foxglove that I planted beside the larger one. (Oh drats...forgot to pull those plastic markers!) I don't want to disturb the roots, as ginny 12 suggested, but I don't think I want it taking over...or do I? LOL! Beverly
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I think this might be typical of the foxglove as a biennial. Last year I started many foxglove from seed and they were only a few inches tall by the time winter started. I wasn't sure if they would survive. But, they all over wintered and stayed pretty low most of the spring until they quickly sent out flower stalks and started blooming. This year I started some Camelot foxglove, which is supposed to flower the first year from seed, inside in April. The seedlings are still about 2 inches tall. Foxy is another cultivar that is supposed to bloom first year. From what I have read, they need to be started inside by Feb. in order to bloom the first year. So, I think I started mine too late. Yours might suddenly strart a growth spurt, or you may get flowers next year. From wikipedia on foxglove: The first year of growth of the Common Foxglove produces only the stem with its long, basal leaves. During the second year of the plant's life, a long leafy stem from 50 to 200 centimeters tall grows atop the roots of healthy plants. Good luck, they are worth the wait. :)
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When you say the foxgloves have "petered out", I'll assume you mean they have stopped flowering. Some foxgloves are biennials and some are short lived perennials. Also, some biennials can actually live for three or more years. If the variety you have is biennial and the plants have set seed fairly heavily, then they probably will die soon. It's hard to predict without knowing what variety you have. If your plants look healthy, just leave them there for now and see what happens. It's too hot right now to plant much in their place anyway. How big are your maples? Are the branches that are drooping permanent branches or lower than the branches you want to keep when the tree matures? Have you got pictures? Without more information, I can't say for sure what I would do, but right now, I'm leaning more towards leaving them alone and letting the tree do what trees do naturally. It sounds like drop-crotch pruning is not an option anyway since foliage is only present at the tip of each main branch.
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natalie4b
16 years ago
They reseed like crazy in my garden (zone 7b-8). I have just moved a bunch of babies that grew between the stepping stones from last year's seed to a flower bed. These are some of my favorite plants! Give them a try Katherineinsfbay. For 3 dollars a container - it's worth it! Good luck!
~Natalie
angelcub
16 years ago
Another foxglove lover here. : ) I would definitely give them a try for that price. I recently bought more for $1.99 and they were in 4" pots, too. I can already see the flower stems emerging. As for yours, I would ask the nursery if they know if they're first year plants. But even still, I'd buy them and plant them. As others have said you may get blooms this year but even if you have to wait, they are worth it, imo.

Diana
Steveningen
16 years ago
Hi Katherine. Even if they don't bloom this year, they'll bloom next year and you'll be happy you thought ahead. I'll bet my growing conditions are similar to yours. Mine love morning sun, but are sheltered from the late afternoon sun. They will die out after a couple of years, but they do reseed nicely. I had a beautiful bed of them but had a vine lose control and smother them this winter. Suffice it to say, the vine is now landfill and I've replaced my foxgloves.

Steven

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Question about Foxglove

Comments (5)

girlgroupgirl

buzzy

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angelcub

Steveningen

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