I am in the 2nd year of my perennial garden. Had a bunch of foxglove that seemed quite happy last year, but has yet to show itself. Is this normal? Any one have any wisdom for this newbie?
Michael
Where's my Foxglove?
It should be showing it's face by now. Any luck yet? Mine are about 3" high and wide.
Hello & Welcome Michael.
I had about 30 baby foxglove last fall and they all are gone. My mature ones disappeared too. Must have been the winter.
Dave
I purchased foxglove from Bluestone Perennials that were planted out last fall. They are thriving. Another that I transplanted last fall appeared to be doing well - then it died.
I have planted out nine newly arrived foxglove - don't know if I will have blooms from them this year or not.
I will try to collect seed from those that do bloom, and winter sowing them.
In my experience with zone 5 gardening, foxgloves are a crap shoot. Someone from the botanical garden recommended a bed of gravel under the plants and that helped them reseed themselves but it wasn't a sure-fire thing. Winter has a lot to do with it. I found that protecting them with a layer of dead leaves in late fall helps but if there is to not enough snow during your winter, lower your expectations for the following spring.
I enjoy digitalis but you have got to have a sense of humour about it when spring comes.
Sylvain.
Foxgloves are generally bi-annuals unless you have the ones that are marked as permanently perennial. There aren;'t too many of those varieties. If they bloomed last year they might not come back this year. If you let them reseed you can maintain a continuous crop but then they come up where they want to!
Hey - the foxglove that I transplanted - the one I thought had died - is sprouting new leaves! Hurray!