Common foxglove grows best in moist, rich soil in full sun to partial shade.
This plant will also thrive in cooler temperatures.
Learn more about common foxglove care and how to help these plants bloom their best.
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Dig a hole the same depth as the pot and twice as wide.
Gently remove the plant from the pot, tease the roots to loosen soil and place in the hole.
Backfill with soil, firm around the roots, and water.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Space foxglove plants about 2 feet apart.
Stake the taller types to prevent them from flopping over.
Light
Grow foxglove plants in a full sun to partial shade location.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Tailor the amount of sunshine you give this biennial to your climate.
In the north, it will thrive in full sun, though some shade is tolerated.
Avoid overhead watering, which can encourage fungal disease.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Planted seeds will germinate when temperatures reach between 70 and 80F.
Foxgloves are not fussy about humidity, though excessive humidity may encourage some fungal diseases.
Provide good air circulation by giving them sufficient spacing.
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Fertilizer
A 1-inch layer of well-decomposed mulch usually provides sufficient nutrients for foxgloves.
In good soil, fertilizer is rarely essential and excess nitrogen can actually harm the flower growth.
Scatter it around the plant and then water over the fertilizer to help it settle.
Avoid having the fertilizer touch the foliage, as it may burn the plant.
Foxglove Types
Several biennial, perennial, and shrub species in theDigitalisgenus carry the common name foxglove.
The most popular plant grown in the garden is the common foxgloveDigitalis purpurea.
Foxglove seeds mature on the stalk and are ready to harvest by mid- to late summer.
ensure to do it before the seed capsules have burst and spread the seed around the garden.
Remove mulch promptly in the spring to avoid crown rot.
Handle mild infestations with predatory insects.
Treat critical infestations withinsecticidal soapsor chemical spray pesticides.
Foxglove can also be affected by funguses, such aspowdery mildew, verticillium wilt, andleaf spot.
Minimize these problems by giving the plants good air circulation and planting them in well-draining soil.
Treat seriously affected plants with spray fungicides.
Crown rot can be a problem, sometimes because of white fungal spores or dense, poorly draining soils.
Badly affected plants will need to be discarded.
What Do Foxglove Flowers Look and Smell Like?
Flowers have a very subtle and delicate scent.
How to Encourage More Blooms
Foxgloves arebiennial plantsthat generally do not bloom until the second year.
Be patient; your plant may bloom the following spring.
Do not give fertilizer to foxglove plants unless the soil is very poor.
Tip
‘Camelot’ and ‘Foxy’ are the twoD.
purpureacultivars bred to flower in their first year.
If planting seeds, start them indoors, eight to 10 weeks before the last frost for best blooms.
This is also normal for foxgloves grown by seedsthey won’t flower until their second year.
Less commonly, a biennial foxglove that’s already flowered will return in weak form for a third season.
They usually do not flower and can be pulled and discarded.
True perennial foxglove species, however, should be left in place.
Clip the flower stalks down to the basal rosette (save the seeds, if you wish).
This may stimulate the plant to produce a second flush of flowers as the weather cools in early fall.
Or, pull the entire plant from the ground once flowering is complete.
Remove only the second-year plants that have completed their flowering cycle.
Consider these true perennial foxgloves:
Foxgloves freely self-seed, creating a sustained patch that produces flowers annually.
However, foxglove is not considered an aggressive spreader.
Identify the biennial types so you don’t remove the true perennial foxgloves.
FoxgloveToxic to the Heart.National Capital Poison Center.
Digitalis purpurea.North Carolina State University Extension
