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lydia

By Lydia

London, United Kingdom Gb

What should I do with my foxgloves?
I have large crowns of leaves from last summer which are all now rotting, mulching into the soil, dying etc and they are looking awful. Should I cut all the old leaves off?




Answers

 

I would leave them to protect the crown of the plant until the weather is milder.

8 Jan, 2011

 

Erm, Mg & Lydia, the regular foxglove is a biennial and will die after it has flowered. If you did not manage to collect seeds, don't worry as they will have self seeded all around. This is one of the good/bad points of foxgloves.

8 Jan, 2011

 

Oops! Though I'm sure some GoYers say their foxgloves last more than two years! Perhaps they just self seed and folk don't notice.

8 Jan, 2011

 

I'm sure 'some' of mine come back for a third year. I agree about the seedlings coming up everywhere. Get those out as soon as you see them if they're not where you want to grow foxgloves as they choke out other plants very effectively.

8 Jan, 2011

 

mine were only grown from plugs last year so have not flowered yet, so perhaps i should just leave them be for now (ugly as they are at the moment!)

9 Jan, 2011

 

I'd definitely leave them alone if they haven't flowered yet. As gardeners we have to accept that everything does not look perfect and pretty all the time.

9 Jan, 2011

 

The comment about perfection is very wise, Moongrower, and true for so many other things as well.

9 Jan, 2011

 

Indeed it is Beattie

9 Jan, 2011

How do I say thanks?

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