Foxgloves Propagation Step by Step

Let foxglove dry on the stalk and release seeds for a continuous supply of blooms.

Foxglove is a dramatic flowering plant that has 4- to 12-inch-long green leaves that are wide, puckered and topped with downy hair. Mounds of leaves grow 2 feet wide. The attractive leaves grow the first year, and during the second a 3- to 4-foot stalk appears. It produces tubular, bell-like flowers that dangle down in lavender, pink, cream, yellow or white with purple or white spots inside.

Things You'll Need

• Compost
• Garden tiller
• Newspaper
• Rocks
• Seed starting cell trays
• Sterile potting soil

Instructions

Planting in the Ground

1. Prepare the bed in late autumn, about two weeks prior to planting seed. Spread a 2-inch layer of compost over the area and dig it into the soil 8 inches deep with a garden tiller.

2. Sprinkle seeds on the soil, but do not cover them. Just firm them into the soil by lightly pressing on them with your hands. Cover the seeds with a layer of newspaper, and weigh it down with rocks to help keep the seeds in place over the winter. Seeds need direct exposure to the sun in spring to germinate.

3. Water the seeds with a light sprinkling over the newspaper so that seeds do not wash away. Keep moist until freezing weather comes, and leave them alone the rest of the winter.

4. Remove the newspaper in spring when the weather starts to warm. They should germinate when temperatures reach 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Thin or transplant so each plant is spaced at least 12 to 24 inches apart.

Starting in Seed Trays

1. Start in spring for summer planting. Fill seed cell trays with sterile potting soil and set one or two seeds on top of the soil in each cell. Do not cover and keep seeds consistently moist.

2. Keep temperatures at 70 degrees for germination to start.

3. Plant foxglove plants six weeks after germination occurs. Plant outside if all danger of frost is over or put in pots to wait until the weather warms up.

Tips & Warnings

• Foxglove self-seeds if the flower stalks are allowed to go to seed and fall from the plants.

• Foxglove is poisonous if eaten. Wildlife will avoid the plant, but keep pets and children away from it.

References

• North Dakota State University; Foxglove; Stacy Snyder
• Cornell University: Foxglove
• Floridata; Digitalis purpurea; April 23, 2000
• Garden Hobbies: How to Grow Foxglove

Resources

• National Gardening Association: Foxglove