Last year the sporadically fertile soil of my garden gave birth to a giant foxglove. Bearing extremely large rose-purple flowers, it soared to six feet tall. I looked up at it with awe and wonder, since I neither planted nor tended it during its formative months.
Foxgloves, or digitalis species, are so easy to grow that it is equally easy to underestimate them. There are about 20 of them, in addition to countless cultivated varieties and hybrids. All are native to southern Europe or western Asia, but they arrived on North American shores early. Digitalis purpurea, or common foxglove, was first described by Virginian John Custis in 1737. Since then, the plants have been stalwart survivors.
My garden is a case in point. Over time foxgloves have succeeded in part shade, part sun and even full sun, blooming beautifully through the growing season. They look coarse and rather nondescript when out of flower, rising from rather rough-looking, lettuce-like rosettes of leaves. All that coarseness evaporates when the blooms break out.
Most gardeners and flower lovers are familiar with foxglove. The stalks are tall and relatively thick, with scores of elongated bell-shaped flowers on each one. Opening sequentially from the bottom of the stalk to the top, flower colors range from shades of white, cream and yellow, through the pink and peach range, to rose, purple and nearly black. The lips or throats are often speckled in maroon, purple or brown.
The word “digitalis” comes from the Latin word for finger, probably a reference to the thimble-shaped blossoms. The ancient Anglo-Saxons reportedly called the plant “foxes glofa”, and the contemporary common name is derived from that term. According to one legend, elves or fairies gave digitalis blossoms to foxes to wear like mittens, muffling their footfalls while they were on their predacious rounds. You may or may not have mitten-clad foxes traipsing around your garden, but if you have deer, they will avoid foxgloves. Of course, if you have foxes—with or without foxglove “mittens”–it is unlikely that you will have to worry about deer either.
Some foxgloves are perennial plants, but the most popular types are biennial, meaning that the plants establish a basal rosette of leaves the first year, then flower, set seed and die in the second year. In practical terms, if you plant foxglove seeds or young plants two years running, the resulting garden display might as well be perennial. A single plant can produce tens of thousands of minute seeds, many of which germinate readily in the average garden. Once foxgloves get started, they do not know when to stop. Fortunately, young seedlings are easy to dig up and move around, so overpopulation is a blessing rather than a curse.
The tallest foxgloves, which bloom in early summer, are hybrids of Digitalis purpurea. Despite the Latin name, which comes from the word for “purple”, the flowers are white or pastel tinted. Popular purpurea hybrids include white-fingered ‘Snow Thimble’, rosy lavender ‘Camelot Lavender’, and peachy ‘Apricot Beauty’. Most purpureas grow between 24 and 36 inches tall, depending on soil, light and moisture conditions.
‘Pam’s Choice’, discovered a couple of decades ago, is another beautiful purpurea cultivar that sports white flowers accented by dramatic maroon throats. I remember reading somewhere that the progenitor of Pam’s Choice was a chance seedling that an English gardener found growing on her compost pile. The story makes a nice metaphor about self-seeding and beauty sprouting amid detritus. True or not, ‘Pam’s Choice’ is stunning in the middle or back of a flower border.
Later in the summer—at least in my garden–yellow bells of Digitalis grandiflora, sometimes known by the mysterious name, Digitalis ambigua, will bloom near several blue-flowered hydrangea, providing an appealing contrast. This foxglove is a short-lived perennial and a particularly rampant self-seeder. For years I have discovered its offspring everywhere in my back garden. I expect future generations of those offspring will make their way to the front garden eventually.
Depending on your garden’s color scheme, you may also like Digitalis x mertonensis or strawberry foxglove, a short-lived perennial hybrid that bears large rosy flowers. Another good choice is Digitalis ferruginea or rusty foxglove, with golden-amber “gloves” marked in brown. Like many other foxgloves, it also blooms in late spring to early summer.
Foxgloves have been used by humans for centuries. Consumed indiscriminately, all digitalis parts are poisonous. However, when the seeds and/or leaves are processed correctly, and the resulting substance prescribed appropriately, the result is an effective treatment for heart-related problems including edema or swelling due to fluid accumulation. William Withering, an English physician, experimented with digitalis in the late eighteenth century and found that it was effective for patients suffering from the hard-to-treat type of edema known then as “dropsy”. Physicians still prescribe drugs derived from digitalis plants.
Foxgloves are not fussy plants, but you can give them a good head start if you plant them in well-drained soil that has been enriched with compost. Water regularly while new plants establish themselves. Though they are often recommended for shade gardens, foxgloves really prefer part or light shade for best flowering. Removing the spent flower stalks will make the plants more attractive, but will also prevent the self-seeding that many of us lazy gardeners find desirable. If you are only somewhat lazy, you can cut let the spent digitalis stalks dry out, cut them carefully and shake them over parts of the garden where you want foxgloves. I guarantee you will see rosettes the following year. The choice is up to you, but if you love beautiful, no-fuss flowers, opt for foxgloves. You can find them at most nurseries and garden centers starting in the spring, but you can also order from Digging Dog Nurseries, 31101 Middle Ridge Road
Albion, CA 95410; (707) 937-1130; www.diggingdog.com.