Foxglove Love

Last week we were finally planting out the foxgloves into their final positions in the shady garden, bottom of the orchard and shady side of the cottage garden. We have never grown them on so well before so that we are hoping for a great show. That said, they are the size of large cabbages and therefore harder to squeeze in.

Beloved by bees, they are such a welcome sight in early summer. I love that the self sown plants vary considerably so that you never know what you might get - yes normally the common soft mauve with drooping bells on one side but sometimes, if you're lucky, they produce whoppers with beautiful markings and flowers towering above your head.

This year, we have sown lots of Suttons Apricot, some Excelsior, a few whites (they didn't germinate well) and a row or two of Candy Mountain whose upward facing blooms are packed tightly around the stem...supposedly perennial but I find that none of them is truly perennial. That said, I grew the grandiflora type last year - some of them flowered this year, indeed are still flowering - some of them not yet but still showing bonny clumps of foliage which is a good sign.

Foxgloves are an edge of woodland plant, and like dappled shade, although we have seen them thrive in full sun. If they like where they are, they will self sow quite happily however the foliage can overshadow and smother smaller plants nearby so that it may be preferable to sow into a holding bed and transplant in the autumn when there is more room. They seem to resent being transplanted after winter, in spring - it's best to let their roots settle in their final position no later than now.