|
The towering foxglove is wonderful planted in the back of flower beds. It has tall spires with tubular flowers which start opening from the bottom up. The first thing I wanted to know when introduced to the foxglove is how it got such a funny name. A friend suggested the flowers look like little glove tips. So where does the fox come into it? Your guess is as good as mine.
Digitalis is the botanical name for this tall plant found naturally growing on the edge of woods, by streams and in every cottage garden. All right, not naturally so much in the cottage garden but that is where it belongs as it is a favorite there. Depending on variety the foxglove can grow from 2- 8 feet tall. Most foxgloves are biennial but there have been some short-lived perennial cultivars developed in recent years.
I remember a friend complaining that she often dug up the foxgloves growing by her stream at the edge of the woods and then planted them most carefully in her garden never to have them return. “What’s up with that?” she asked me.
I smiled indulgently and told her it was biennial and then I had to explain what that is. A biennial is just an annual that takes two years instead of one to complete its mission in life which is to produce seeds for future generations. The first year you plant the seeds the plants will grow but will not likely bloom. The second year it will flower and if you don’t cut off the dead flowers it will go to seed. If left alone the foxglove is a prolific self-sower. I find this to be a great thing since I like them so much. Others who don’t can just be diligent about deadheading to solve the problem (?) of over abundance.
If you plant the seeds of biennials two years in a row you should always have a constant supply of flowers instead of only every other year. Problem solved. There, of course, are tricks to get biennials to bloom within a year. Would you like me to tell you? I thought so. If you plant the foxglove seed, or any biennial, in the mid to late summer, let the baby plants winter over with a nice thick covering of dry leaves or branches from your Christmas tree and then uncover them in early spring you’ll most likely get them to flower by late spring or at least by summer. You just cut bloom time to a year. Nice, huh? I learned that totally by accident. I love it when I do that.
The foxglove has leaves in a grayish green color with a slightly fuzzy texture. The flowers come in a large array of colors red, purple, cream, yellow, white and many pastels with most being prettily bi-colored. Pink blossoms with yellow throats, white flowers with pink markings, yellow blooms with white throats and purple spots are just some of the enticing color combos available in mixed seed packets.
These plants are extra hardy though in warm climates they tend to die prematurely in the summer heat. They grow best in light shade but in warm areas more shade might be better for them. They like regular watering and light feeding but make certain you plant them in rich soil like that found in forest areas. They look beautiful inter-planted with Meadow Rue, Cinnamon Fern and tall Campanula.
After the foxglove blooms you should cut off the dead flower stem to encourage side shoots to develop. By the end of summer it should give you a second bloom. Bees and hummingbirds love this flower. As if you needed more enticement to plant these lovelies.
Digitalis purpurea, the common foxglove, grows to 4 feet and comes in an orchid purple, nodding flower with brownish spots and has light green, wooly-feeling leaves. These leaves have the highly poisonous but extremely useful and valuable substance used in heart medication. All parts of the digitalis, therefore, should never be ingested just for safety’s sake.
There are some excellent cultivars like “Excelsior” which grows to 5 feet high. The flowers being more horizontal they show off their nice interior coloring better than most. The “Shirley” strain has even taller towers of flowers at 6-8 feet and comes in vibrant colors. They make a fantastic backdrop to the garden and even serve as an unconventional “fence” or “wall” dividing garden rooms. Digitalis ambigua, the yellow foxglove, is 2-3 feet tall with leaves circling around the stalks.
All of these are readily available in any good garden store. So, run along and grab yourself a seed pack or two, plant them and watch as they slowly tower over other perennials and annuals. You’ll love them, you’ll never regret them and you’ll thank me for introducing you to the lovely flower with the funny name. Foxglove? Do you know of any fox who wears gloves?
|
Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 visit http://www.helium.com/user/show/32782 for more garden talk, some funny short stories and romantic novel excerpts.
Didn't really find what you were looking for?
|
|
|
| |
|
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](images/rss.gif "Subscribe to our XML Feed for RSS")
(Read 50+ times)
