How's My First Foxglove doing ?

[Regular Al]

Hi All,

I put a foxglove in the ground in May . It had a few flowers on each stem at the time. After a few weeks all buds turned dark, blackish and no new blooms. The rest of the plant is green. I planted it in the side yard where it gets a few hours of full sun and then mostly filtered sun until early afternoon, then total shade. Just wondering if there is anything wrong with it and should I move it ?
It is planted in a raised bed in the corner where the fence meets. Used bagged planting soil and some manure for the bed.

I thought it would get a lot of blooms all summer . Does that not happen the first year.
The plant shop said nothing was wrong with it and good luck.

Thanks for any advice.
Al

[rainbowgardener]

Probably ok, but you have to understand how foxglove works. Sounds like you bought it as a transplant already in bloom? That's usually not a good idea. Transplanting usually ends the blooming anyway. And often nurseries force the blooms, with fertilizers, somewhat exhausting the plant.

But foxglove is a biennial. It doesn't bloom until the second year. After it blooms and sets seed, then it is dead. If you shake those seeds out on to the ground, they MAY sprout next year. The plants that come from those sprouted seeds will be first year plants and will not bloom. If you also buy 2nd year transplants next year, then eventually you will have some foxglove blooming every year.

To prolong the blooming:

Deadhead the central flower spike (I.e. snip it off), the cluster of flowers emerging from the stem, with hand pruning shears when three-fourths of it has faded to encourage the production of more flowers and side-shoots.

Remove spent flowers down to the next healthy blossom or set of leaves as they fade to keep the plant from wasting energy on seed production and reseeding aggressively.

But of course, it's a choice - deadhead flowers (that are cut off as soon as they are spent) do not produce seed. So if you keep it completely deadheaded, you will have maximum blooming this year and no seeds for next year. If you let it all go to seed, then it will be done right away this year. So usually some compromise is in order - deadhead some, but leave a little to set seed.

[Regular Al]

Hi,
When I bought it , it had 2-3 blooms on 2 of 3 stems. It never got any more. After putting it in the ground it looked like it was going to get some more but it didn't. The buds turned brown. Leaves stayed green . By turning dead you mean the buds turn brown ?
I'm confused...
Do I cut back the stem itself near the base or just the brown buds on the sides of the stem?
I haven't seen any more blooming after those initial blooms that were present when I bought it. That's my main confusion is that it has stopped blooming altogther.

Perhaps what has happened is that I let it all go to seed ?
Thanks for your help,
Al

[GardeningCook]

As RG said, Foxglove is a biennial. There are a few varieties that bloom the first year, but we'd need the variety name to figure that out. Thus, if you bought it already in bloom, after the blooms were finished it would naturally die. The first year they produce just leaves; second year blooms; & that's it. However, they are known to reseed reliably if planted in a friendly spot. They are primarily dappled shade plants & enjoy well-draining well-composted footing. Also, Foxglove is a SPRING bloomer, thus it will not produce blooms all summer long. May/June is its normal bloom time.

Another question - You state that you put your Foxglove in the ground, but your pic looks like it's in a container or windowbox. Is it in the ground or in a container?

[Regular Al]

Wow. I'm learning a lot about the foxglove from you all. A complex plant for a beginner.

I found the info for it: Digitalis mertonensis , Strawberry. It is in the ground inside a fence. Perhaps not enough air flow?

I assumed that the each entire stem would fill with blooms . It only got a few on 2 stems and no new blooms in June.
Thanks for the help.

[GardeningCook]

Here's some specific info on "Strawberry" foxglove. Apparently you're in luck, as it's touted as being a true perennial rather than a biennial like most foxgloves. Some sources state that if deadheaded after bloom, it will bloom repeatedly (although I'd probably let at least some later blooms go to seed so as to get some free seedlings). Info also states that the foliage is "evergreen". Sounds like an interesting plant.

https://parkseed.com/strawberry-foxglove ... 773-PK-P1/

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dict ... /foxglove/

https://www.about-garden.com/a/en/1502-d ... -foxglove/

[Regular Al]

Ok that's helpful. Sounds like I planted it in the right spot but still don't know why I didn't get more blooms.
I haven't done any dead heading yet so I'll do some and see what happens .
Thanks for the help,
Al

[Regular Al]

Hello All,

My Foxglove isn't looking good .
Anything I can do right now ?

Thanks,
Al

[Regular Al]

Here's some specific info on "Strawberry" foxglove. Apparently you're in luck, as it's touted as being a true perennial rather than a biennial like most foxgloves. Some sources state that if deadheaded after bloom, it will bloom repeatedly (although I'd probably let at least some later blooms go to seed so as to get some free seedlings). Info also states that the foliage is "evergreen". Sounds like an interesting plant.

https://parkseed.com/strawberry-foxglove ... 773-PK-P1/

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dict ... /foxglove/

https://www.about-garden.com/a/en/1502-d ... -foxglove/

Hey Gardening Cook,
Can you take a look at my Foxglove pic below ? Anything I can do ?
Thank,
Al