I love foxgloves! They remind me of stately, old English gardens. Late June is when they look their best and are standing tall — except if it rains. I don’t normally stake my foxgloves, but find it necessary when we get a pounding rain, like we did yesterday. As long as the flower spike isn’t snapped, they can be slowly stood up and tied to a thin bamboo stake. We have several species and hybrids – Digitalis lutea, the yellow flowering foxglove is bit understated compared with other showier varieties, but it tends to be longer lived and you should see them persist in your garden for 5-10 years. Digitalis purpurea ‘Chamelot’ series reliably blooms the first year and it is making a real show right now in my yard! The bumblebees love it too! If you don’t want seedlings throughout your garden, be sure to remove the flower spike when there are just a few flowers left to bloom on the tips. Don’t forget, these are biennials and will produce a flower spike one year and a rosette without a spike the following year. Foxgloves are most effective in the garden when they are massed in groups and make outstanding verticle accents in any garden.

Digitalis purpurea ‘Chamelot Rose’