Second year growng foxglove

I started a lot of foxglove last year from seed. I was able to find several that bloom in the first year, but also started some that didn't bloom till the second year. Now that the snow have finally gone, I am looking around at the plants and have more questions. Do the leaves remain green all winter? I am seeing flattened plants (thanks to the snow), but they are still green. If that is the case, does that mean that if I don't see the plants they haven't made it throught the winter?

I understand that they only survive a couple of years, but do they actively reseed? Will I need to continue to start these from seed.

This message was edited Mar 15, 2010 4:37 PM

I am from zone 9, so I am speaking only from my personal experience here. Foxglove typically bloom in their second year, but if you plant early enough in the fall, you can "fool" them into thinking that it is their second year come that following spring and they will bloom. They do reseed easily. In my zone, some plants do make it over the winter with the leaves intact and are the earliest to bloom and have the larger blooms. I have noticed foxgloves coming and going in various parts of my garden so they do die off eventually and not come back. To be safe, I would collect seeds when possible. One thing I noticed is that I had a mixture of the whites and purples, but all my whites are gone and only the purple ones are left. They must be the hardier of the two species. I have planted apricot and a few other colors, but they eventually died off because I was not conscientious enough to save seeds or to monitor them.

penne - You should get some fresh leaves as things warm up. Foxglove will reseed if you don't cut the drying seed capsule - leave intact until they're brown and dry. You can always collect some as well once they've dried to ensure you can propagate if the don't reseed as expected. Theoretically, you'd have to plant two years in a row (since foxglove are mainly biennials) to get the reseeding schedule going.
I once heard somewhere that if you cut the flower stalk before it blooms that the foxglove then becomes a perennial. I wish I could remember where I heard that and if it's true.

Don't know how things go in other zones and haven't done foxgloves in awhile but have had one I did over 4 years ago that still comes back and think I checked the other day and it is still green so hoping it comes back and really need to do some others out there .
Am in zone 8 so guess they keep coming back and have seen some smaller ones around it so guess it reseeded . Thats great.
Carolyn

I do get confused (still) by foxglove. Hardy to zone 5 but only as a biennial? I do like them though. I've started some from seed almost every year for the past 20.

Cindy, you must really enjoy them if you have started them every year for twenty years! I was so thrilled last year when they came up. I was looking around today and noticed that I had some foxglove seedlings that I never took out of the seedling trays last summer that are now green. I had so many plants at the time that I didn't plant all of them. Over the weekend, I am going to finally give them a new home.

The purple plants have lived longer for me while white and apricot both acted like biennials. All these plants are volunteers. Never had an apricot volunteer. There is one near where the white one grew so maybe I'll get one of those. I really didn't like the purple plants as much as the apricot but they have grown on me since.

What a pretty picture Loretta

Loretta - beautiful pic. What is the rose in the lower left corner?
I am partial to the white and apricot ones. I do have a packet of 'Pam's Split' that I'm going to be starting this year. The photo looked interesting and a little different.

I was wondering the same thing because I have foxglove from WSing that I did last year (the most successful WS seeds by FAR for me in my 1styear of WS), and still have a lot of greenery. So I can just leave things as they are? I was wondering if I should cut it all back, try to cut out only the dead leaves and leave the green, or do nothing.

Looking at those photos, I'm gonna wish I'd gotten some new seed and WSed them this winter so I'd have them again next year. Oh well, I can collect this year's seeds and wait until 2012 for my next blooms. Though maybe I'll try that trick to get 'em going next year anyway.

Crabgrass - you could trim off the really ratty looking leaves but not the whole thing but only if you want. You should get some fresh leaves. You can still start some seed. Foxglove don't have to be winter-sowed or go through a chill process to germinate. As long as they're started this year, they should bloom next year. If you're not particular about the flower color, you should be able to find seed at numerous stores.

There is a foxglove that blooms the first year also, if you really want some for your garden. I just started some last week.

Thanks pennefeather and CindyM. The rose in the lower left is Alchemist.
Also, the leaves stay green for me too. As CindyM said, just cut off the raggy ones.

Cindy, if you've been growing Foxgloves for 20 yrs. you must have some nice pictures you can show us, along with some seeds to share. Do you order any different varieties or colors every year or just stick to the one color as they reseed?

Ah ha, I'm inspired and will get some seeds to start this spring for next year. I just know that when they bloom I'm gonna be so excited I'll want more next year! Thanks for the info!

What works for getting my favorite foxgloves to return is to cut off the flower spikes when they decline in the Fall, but before setting seed. I then leave the stalk in place throughout winter untill the plant starts to emerge in the Spring. I also mulch the foxgloves with pinestraw after the first heavy frost.

Pippi - Sadly, I am not the photographer of the family. I never think of taking pics. Some years I collect seed if I have some I want to propagate but they rarely come true from collected seed. Even if left to self-seed, the flower colors will vary. If I want a specific color, I buy fresh seed. Last year, I started white ones and they should bloom this year. This year, I'm starting 'Pam's Split' since it's a little different from the norm.
Crabgrass - The seed should only take a couple of weeks to sprout at 70 to 75 degrees. Maybe you could get them going in a warm space and move them outside. They do need light to germinate. They do like to grow a bit cooler (60 degrees) once they've germinated.
I think 'Camelot White' is the variety that's supposed to bloom the first year but both DD and I have had mixed results with first-year blooms.

garden6 - Do you leave the cut-off stalk as a marker of sorts? Most of my foxglove to get covered by oak leaves in the fall and don't reliably return. Maybe I need to be a bit speedier in cutting off the flower stalk. Thanks for the tip.

Cindy~ the explanation given to me is that the stalk provides protection for the foxglove to prevent damage from the winter freezes. I use the same technique for my heliopsis and bluebeard cayyopteris (blue mist spirea). But you're right it is a good marker for the emerging foxgloves in Spring.

You're welcome! ;0)

This message was edited Mar 18, 2010 9:38 AM

garden6 - sorry but I'm confused. Do you only cut off the part of the stalk with the spent flowers and leave the rest of the stalk attached to the plant?
Loretta - I'm totally jealous of anyone that can grow roses like that. I've tried in part sun but I think my soil is just not very nutritious. I'm working on that with spot composting. Maybe some day...

Cindy~ when the flower spikes begin to decline in late fall, cut them off but leave the remainer of the stalk in place, about 14-18 inches depending on the height of the foxglove. It will die and turn greyish brown and woody like. Leave that in place throughout the winter and early Spring until you see the foxglove foliage emerging at the base of the stalk. Then you can remove that stalk along with any dead foliage ...and move back some of the mulch from the base of the plant. I'll see if any of my foxglove foliage is emerging yet and snap a pic, but it's been a long grey, snowy winter here and it's supposed to snow on Sat. so my mulch will remain for now.

Here's a pic. I removed some of the pinestraw back so you can see the green leaves emerging at the base of the foxglove...note that the stalk is still in place. After this coming weekend snow, I will remove the stalk, dead foliage and some of the mulch back to allow the foxglove to continue to grow to its heart's content and to my delight with the beautiful blooms. After the first flush of blooms, I will enjoy a second sometimes a third set of reblooms when I cut off (deadhead) the flower spikes before seeds are set. When summer heat sets in, I will then deadhead the flower spikes to allow reblooming in the Fall. Hope that helps a little bit more

I didn't know that you could get more than one set of blooms with foxglove. I have to try that this year.

CindyMZone5,
I hope that you will get someone to take pictures of Pam's Split when they bloom. It looks like a really interesting flower.

Penne~ the reblooms will be smaller than the first but are just as gorgeous and majestic in the border...a little extra work but rewarding...

garden6 - Thanks so much for being patient with your explanation. Now I get it. I'm so used to cutting the stalk off completely at the base. And reblooms - oh, yes - I want some! Thank you, thank you, thank you... An old dog can learn new tricks after all. Means I can keep my white and apricot f/g for a much longer time instead of starting from seed each year.
And thank you Penne for starting this whole thread! I'll try to remember the pic for 'Pam's Split' but we're talking about blooms next year and I might forget.

You know you are more than welcome! That's how we gardeners learn so much through the gift of sharing tidbits that work. I have to thank other garderners for the little I know as well, cause if I try to get it all from a book like before ...I'll end up with even more mishaps and defeats than blooms! LOL!

CindyM, don't be jealous. I have a lot of trouble keeping the roses looking nice since I don't use sprays. I am very tempted to get rid of them at times. It's a love / hate relationship.

I'm not much of a blog person but do love forums where I can learn something new. I'm quickly loosing patience with a lot of the newer books. While I love pictures (eye candy for sure), they don't always have some of the info I'm looking for. Forums are always much quicker.

I do cherish the few blooms that I do get. Luckily, my roses have bloomed before the Japanese beetles hit the last few years. I do try to coax a second bloom from them but it's tough without feeding them like crazy.

I winter sowed foxgloves that bloomed their second year. The seeds were marked white/cream colored. They bloomed last year. They got almost five feet tall. There was also a pink one. They cross breed. In another garden I have a mixture. All of them have spotted throats. I have many packs of seeds left of both kinds if anybody wants them. I think they could even be winter sown this year yet.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/dem_pa/creamfox1.jpg

Don (DEMinPA)

Hi Don, Ive been watching this thread, Never have grown these and would love to try. Let me know if you still have seeds. I would be excited to try yours
Donna

sisdj will mail you seeds on Monday.

Don

I plant foxglove seeds every year too. I love foxglove and hate to be without them. After flowering, I take seeds from the flowers and then I lift the whole plant and toss it after it is finished flowering and the seed pods have dried out enough to take the seed I want from the plant. This way, I have another spot to put something else that will flower later in the gardening season in that space.

I was out cleaning up my East bed today and saw where I have several foxglove that are coming that I planted last year. I know a lot of people prefer to start the seed by Wintersowing, however, I have found that I get good results by direct sowing the seed when the plant goes to seed.

How pretty! I have to make sure that I have plenty this year. I can count on the deer and rabbits to ignore the foxglove.

That color of foxglove is beautiful. Do you recall where you purchased it? Never seen one that color before. Have seen some apricot colors shown by some of the members here in their gardens.

I wish I knew what type of foxglove it is. I got it in a trade a couple of years ago. I am guessing that it is Digitalis Excelsior, but that is just a guess on my part.

The foxgloves in the rear are "Excelsior".....the ones in the foreground are "CandyMountain', the flowers kinda stick out more horizontally so you can see the spots inside the "gloves" easily......I usually plant small plants in spring, raise'em in a raised bed and they bloom next spring.....I'm such a "mulcer" that I haven't ever gotten a re-seeder but have noticed a few offsets....One new one I tried last year was "Creme Cafe", it was nice, unusual but nice and long flowering.

Paul

Paul - Your plants look absolutely picture-perfect. What color is 'Creme Cafe'? Mine don't get near as much sun as your's do so mine are quite as floriferous.

Paul~ gorgeous foxgloves... love those Candy mountains!

Beautiful garden picture. wish my garden looked that good...

Janet