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Pays de la Loir, France Fr

Hi all
I would like someone to tell me a bit about Foxgloves. They are a plant I like very much and I did have some in the garden, however, a couple of years back they didn`t show. Last year a few small plants started to appear in the polytunnel, so I let them grow and this year they were huge with many flowers. Now they have gone by and I wonder if they will flower again next year or if I need to do something to help them? Also, there are loads of the small ones in the poly and I would like to plant them all out as they are not really suitable for indoors.
Sorry about the rambling Q. Regards Pete.




Answers

 

Foxgloves (Digitalis) are either perennial or biennial (meaning they grow leaves one year and flower the next). A lot of the perennial ones are best treated as biennials though, cos they get a bit sparse and tatty if left. The commonest one is Digital purpurea and its varieties, and this one is a biennial. It seeds itself and if you're lucky, and if the weather isn't too dry, the seeds germinate and you get a new crop of plants. Most people (including me) shake the flowered stems once the seeds have formed over the ground to get new plants, or collect the seed and grow them that way. Any small plants which have grown themselves by autumn can be moved into other positions during autumn, around now, but will need to be watered if the weather stays dry. They can also be moved in spring, but again, watering will be necessary.
After the first flowering, you can cut down the flowered stems, which should mean you get a second flowering - these you leave if you want seed.
Because your new plants have grown in the polytunnel, they probably need hardening off before you move them outside this autumn, unless the weather where you are isn't cold, particularly at night, currently. That means, unfortunately, you'll have to pot them up, then stand them outside for increasing periods over a week, starting with, say, a few hours on a warm day, until you've managed to leave them out all night, so they have acclimatised to the new conditions. Then you can plant them.

30 Sep, 2013

 

Thanks Bamboo, what a comprehensive answer. It`s not cold at night here yet so I`ll do this soon as.
Regards Pete.

30 Sep, 2013

 

I've just noticed a mistake in my answer - Digital purpurea should be Digitalis;-)

30 Sep, 2013

 

I just thought you were so used to latin names that you were using the shortened version. Thanks again
Regards Pete.

30 Sep, 2013

 

;-))

30 Sep, 2013

 

In a way you were probably just as correct in your first description when you said "digital" Bamboo. Digital means digitus in Latin, and the word Digitalis comes from the Latin word, digitus, meaning finger. The name Foxglove comes from "Finger of a Glove.

30 Sep, 2013

 

there poisonous.

30 Sep, 2013

 

They are Eamonn, but I've also heard that Digitalis is used as a drug for people with heart problems. Funny old world eh?

30 Sep, 2013

 

Myron,

There are several alleged explanations of the name. 'Folk's love' because the fairy folk shelter in the flowers. 'Fox glove' because foxes put them on their paws to avoid leaving paw prints when raiding the hen house.

Death by accidental poisoning is very rare because it is emetic but great care has to be taken with the heart drug made from it because a small overdose can be fatal.

1 Oct, 2013

 

Eamonn, over 50% of the plants commonly grown in British gardens are toxic - but most, only if ingested, so perhaps making a salad of foxgloves isn't recommended...

Funny how minds work differently Myron - when I saw I'd typed Digital, my mind went straight to the modern meaning, as in analogue/digital...

1 Oct, 2013

How do I say thanks?

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