FOXGLOVE

D. ferruginea (rusty foxglove); D. grandiflora, also called D. ambigua (yellow foxglove); D. xmertonesis (Merton foxglove); D. purpurea (common foxglove)

The genus name Digitalis is familiar because the leaves of common foxglove provide the heart stimulant called by that name. The plan's spirelike stalks are lined with white, yellow, pink, rose, purple or rusty red flowers, each 1- to 3-inch speckle-throated flower shaped like the finger of a glove. Foxgloves bloom mianly in early summer but if the first stalks are cut off below the seed pods before the seeds mature, more flowers often appear in midsummer. Foxgloves are wild flowers in Europe, North Africa and the Near East and have become naturalized in this country, growing wild along partly shaded roadsides in western Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Most are biennials, but some species and hybrids are perennials.

The rusty foxglove is usually grown as a biennial or a short-lived perennial; 4 to 6 feet tall, it has rusty red flowers. The yellow foxglove, also a biennial or short-lived perennial, grows 2 to 3 feet tall, and has honey-colored flowers blotched with brown. The Merton foxglove, a perennial that grows about 3 feet tall, has deep red flowers. The common foxglove, a biennial, grows 4 to 5 feet tall and has rosy purple or white flowers. It has been bred, however, to provide varieties of many distinctive characteristics. The 'Shirley' Hybrids include many pastel shades. A 3-foot strain called 'Foxy' comes into blossom so quickly--about five months after seeds are sown in the spring--that it can be grown as an annual. But the most striking strain is 'Excelsior' Hybrids; its flowers are borne on all sides of the spike, rather than on one side as on other foxgloves, and face outward rather than downward.

HOW TO GROW:

Foxgloves thrive in Zones 4-10 except in Florida and along the Gulf Coast in full sun or light shade, but in hot areas should be kept in partial to full shade. They do best in moist but well-drained soil. Plant foxgloves 15 to 18 inches apart. Start biennial foxgloves from seed in summer for bloom the next year. Perennial foxgloves can be started by dividing and resetting clumps in early spring or fall, but are more commonly grown from seeds. Sow the seeds in mid- to late spring to get flowers the following summer. To prevent overcrowding, divide clumps after three or four years of flowering.