Digging deeperPlant Library

Foxy Foxglove flowers

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Description:

Features elegant white, lilac and rose colored flowers with burgundy spots; tall spikes rise above attractive green lance-shaped leaves; a biennial that's happiest in part shade with adequate moisture

Ornamental Features

Foxy Foxglove features bold spikes of creamy white tubular flowers with lilac purple overtones and burgundy spots rising above the foliage from early to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Foxy Foxglove is an herbaceous perennial with a rigidly upright and towering form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Foxy Foxglove is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Vertical Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Foxy Foxglove will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 3 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 12 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. It grows at a fast rate, and tends to be biennial, meaning that it puts on vegetative growth the first year, flowers the second, and then dies. However, this species tends to self-seed and will thereby endure for years in the garden if allowed. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant should be grown in a location with partial shade or which is shaded from the hot afternoon sun. It does best in average conditions that are neither too wet nor too dry, and is very intolerant of standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets.