Help with Foxglove.

Discussion in 'Annuals, Biennials, Perennials, Ferns and Bulbs' started by Zandoli, Aug 9, 2008.

  1. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Don't forget these are digitalis and poisonous. Make sure kids and animals don't handle

    "Toxicity
    Main article: Digoxin toxicity

    Digitalis purpurea drawings by Franz KöhlerDepending on the species, the digitalis plant may contain several deadly physiological and chemically related cardiac and steroidal glycosides. Thus, the digitalis has earned several more sinister monikers: Dead Man’s Bells, and Witches’ Gloves"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis


    Liz
     
  2. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    Yup - I know it is totally poisonous.

    : O

    Hope people's dog's avoid it - there's no kids other than a few vistitors. I will let all the tenants know that it is poisonous and to avoid it. I planted it in an area where absolutely no one goes, so I am sure it will be just fine.

    I am thinking that after the flowers drop there will be seed pods? I will look for them and be sure to collect some. I was going to go back and get a purple foxglove to go with the yellow one, but I want it to stand out on it's own, I think. It's just too special and I don't want anything to interfere with it.

    I am also hoping to attract some hummers...

    : )
     
  3. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    HBL As the little flower trumpets die and fall off you will see they leave green pod behind, weeks later these pods will dry out and become brown all the way up the stem and thousands of seeds are produced as not all of them will germinate. Ususally after a hot dry spell the seed pods start to open, so what I do then is cut the stem at the base carefully carry it to the beds where I want my Foxgloves next year as I don't want to drop seeds in my lawn,( or you can put it into a paper bag if you want to save the seeds) and then I shake the stem over that area and it starts to rain seeds. They then will produce Foxgloves the next spring over that area. Nice and easy.

    Nath
     
  4. kaspian

    kaspian Active Member 10 Years

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    Nath, I do the same thing -- in fact I was just out scattering seeds yesterday.

    Our main problem here in northern New England and eastern Canada is a short growing season, which usually means the new plants will need an entire extra year to reach blooming size. A more experienced gardener told me that the 'Foxy' strain of D. purpurea (sold by Thompson & Morgan, among others) matures more quickly -- T&M bill it as "the ANNUAL foxglove" -- so this year I grew a bunch of those from seed.

    The plants I've got now seem to have come from a very mixed assortment -- Bertie Bott's Every-Flavored Foxgloves, if you will -- because they vary greatly in size and color and in how the individual flowers are held on the stem (i.e., on one side only or all around, drooping down or pointing outward, etc.). I kind of like that -- it adds an element of surprise.
     
  5. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    Oh my goodness Kaspian - you must show us pictures later, because those sound gorgeous!

    : O

    Nath, thanks so much for explaining about the scattering of the seeds - sounds so easy and rewarding. When should I begin to sow my rare apricot foxglove seeds? Maybe I will germinate some in January and put the plants out in May. They may bloom in the summer, or the following season.

    I knew you were going to describe the green seed pods left behind after the flowers, because I already saw some on my plant! I also knew to wait for them to turn brown, because of my experience collecting many different seeds.

    How cool - I am very excited now, because I intend on scaterring the seeds around in all of my gardens! Then I will have those bright yellow foxgloves all around!

    : )
     
  6. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    HBL, I would sow them as early as possible and keep them inside until you are sure the weather is warm enough to allow the main stems to shoot up in full sun. You can pot the seedlings on into 6" pots when they are too big for the trays to keep up the growth momentum and that way you should give them plenty of time to bloom. Then choose nice sunny spots to put them out in. The sunnier the better because that way you will have more success in collecting nice dry seed pods when they have finished flowering.

    Kaspian, what colours did you get out of your mixed bag? Its always fun waiting to see what you have.

    Nath
     
  7. kaspian

    kaspian Active Member 10 Years

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    I got the whole ordinary range from pure white (with brownish speckles in the throat) to very deep purple. Perhaps the most attractive single plant was a tall, very pale lilac-pink with deeper speckles and a habit of holding the flowers (which appeared all round the stem) nearly horizontal. The seed pods are still maturing, but I've been collecting seed from this and tossing it around elsewhere in the garden.

    The deepest purple seemed to be the wild species type, with blossoms held mostly on one side (the sunnier side) of the stem, which caused the plant to lean toward the light. Christopher Lloyd finds this kind more romantic than the newer strains (for instance Excelsior), I suppose because it's more old-fashioned.
     
  8. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Kaspian, sound like a nice selection did you take any fotos? I am going to take some seed packets to mexico later on this year when we go home for a break and sow them in the garden in Mexico City, Foxgloves arent very common their so they should make our family garden stand out a bit from the rest. Should look nice under the Bouganvillea.

    Nath
     
  9. kaspian

    kaspian Active Member 10 Years

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    Nath, I did take some photos, though apparently they were lost through some glitch in my son's Nikon Coolpix.

    I hope you are not setting yourself up for heartbreak back home in Mexico. I remember my own experience trying to grow classic English garden plants when I lived in southeastern USA. Some plants thrived, but others were just miserable. I don't recall where foxgloves fell on that scale, though I do remember that they never lived up to my fondest expectations. This summer in Maine has been the highlight of my Digitalis career to date.
     
  10. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    I was astounded at the wonderful English summer gardens so soft and alive. Probably the softer weather. Here we do have great flowering times such as now to about Christmas then the summer really gets going and it takes one day of a hot north wind and the garden starts looking tough and dry. I have given up on hanging baskets. The house would realy look great with them but they dry out too quickly. I have now learned that local natives look just as beautiful in maybe a more understated way and they survive and the bird life loves it. My azaleas and rhodos and other more exotic things survive because they are pocketed in micro climates and they have been here a long time so have a good grip on the water underneath. Anything new has to be realy looked after not like years ago throw it in and up it came. Could rely on rains at certain times of the year.

    Liz
     
  11. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Kaspian, Mexico City deosnt have as harsh a climate as other parts of the country being above 8000 feet. so they should be OK, geraniums and other things grow ok.

    Liz hanging baskets are a whole different skill, survival depends on the type of compost used to retain moisture and even better if you have an irrigation system to give them a watering every morning and evening then they thrive even in full sun in hot climates. Thats the way that its done ine countries like Spain and Mexico and even in the UK I've seen the sprinkler irrigation system used. Having said that this month in the UK its rained every second day so the baskets have been fine.

    Nath
     
  12. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    I think that Foxgloves in pots are so gorgeous, and I may try to keep one of my apricot colored ones in a container. I have kept perennials in pots before, and had them rebloom each season.

    How can one create new colors of foxgloves? I will have yellow and apricot varieties in my garden, so what color blooms will the seeds produce?

    : )
     
  13. kaspian

    kaspian Active Member 10 Years

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    HbL, it depends on whether they are distinct species, like D. lutea, or merely selected forms of D. purpurea. Seedlings of D. lutea (which I think we've decided is probably what your yellow flower is) should be yellow like the parent plant. If the apricot plant is the hybrid called D. x mertonensis, which is a true perennial, then it too should come true from seed, as far as I know. But if is an apricot-colored variant of D. purpurea -- or any other colored variant for that matter -- then over time the seedlings will tend to revert to the wild color range of the species, which is basically purple, with some plants drifting toward pink or white (I believe -- I've never lived anywhere with foxgloves growing in the wild).

    I guess it's also possible that the two foxglove types will naturally hybridize. In which case you could get anything. I don't know how frequently this occurs, though.
     
  14. The Hollyberry Lady

    The Hollyberry Lady New Member

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    Wow - thanks Kaspian. Sounds exciting!

    : O
     

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