Digitalis Species, Foxglove, Rusty Foxglove

The soft flower color, a soft blend of apricot, burnt orange, and caramel, mixes tastefully with a wide range of other colors.
...Read More /> This biennial is easily grown here in eastern MA (Z6a) in full sun or partial shade. The easily transplanted evergreen rosettes are handsome their first season and all winter. The ramrod-straight flower scapes shoot up dramatically in the second or third season and contribute a welcome architectural presence to the border. Unlike common foxglove (D. purpurea), flowers are distributed evenly around the stalk. After going to seed, plants die, but their dead flower stalks look good in the winter. Plants self-sow reliably here without becoming a weed.

Performance is best with more sun than needed by the common foxglove.

A single plant in isolation may seem a little odd. A grouping of 7 or more looks much better. Plants take up little space. Great mingled with loose lower growing perennials.

Rusty Foxglove thrives in areas that other plants struggle. Mine is in the dry shade of a greedy Maple tree, and it is still full of blo...Read Moreoms.

Stratification and light aid germination of seeds.

This foxglove is lovely viewed up close -- a young friend gave it the nickname of "golden slippers." With regular deadheading side shoo...Read Morets flowered well into the fall.

The rusty foxglove may not be as showy as some of the digitalis species but it's still a worthy plant that deserves a spot in the garden....Read More Its golden tubular flowers have reddish-brown veins inside giving them the "rusty" appearance. Bees and hummingbirds are frequent visitors. Plants tend to be short-lived perennials, lasting 2 to 3 years but self sown seedlings are abundant and will replace any that don't return.