How to Plant Foxglove Seeds in Zone 4
The foxglove's Latin name---digitalis---comes from the Latin word "digitanus," meaning "finger," because its blooms fit the human finger like a glove. Foxgloves are herbaceous plants, either biennial or perennial, that thrive in USDA Hardiness Planting Zone 4. The foxgloves' tall trumpet-shaped flowers of red, pink, purple, lavender, yellow and white can grow to a height of 3 to 6 feet. Foxgloves attract butterflies and hummingbirds and are deer resistant. They grow easily from seeds and serve as an eye-catching addition to any garden. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Determine which varieties of foxglove you want to grow in your garden. The common foxglove is a biennial that grows to 4 or 5 feet tall, with purple or white flowers. The "Shirley" hybrid produces pastel-colored blooms; "'Alba" is white or creamy colored; "Merton" is a 3-foot perennial with big ruby flowers; and "Rusty" produces rusty to red blooms and grows from 4 to 6 feet tall. Yellow foxglove is a 3- to 4-foot biennial.
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Decide on the right spot to plant your foxgloves. Find a partially shaded spot where the soil drains well and air circulation is good. Since foxgloves grow to a width of about 18 inches, select a place where they will have plenty of room to spread. Because of their height, they make lovely back borders for flowerbeds or blend beautifully with other tall, flowering plants, such as hollyhocks.
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Prepare the soil for planting by adding two inches of well-decayed compost or pine bark to the top six inches of soil and mix well.
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Sow foxglove seeds either indoors or outdoors. Indoors, plant the seeds in the spring. Transplant them in the fall about one month before the first frost is expected in your Zone 4 location. Outdoors, plant during mid-spring or fall, allowing 18 inches between seeds so they have space to grow. Cover with four to six inches of mulch to help keep plants moist year round.
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Water weekly and feed with an all-purpose fertilizer monthly to promote taller plants with stronger stalks and long-lasting flowers. When the plants are a couple of feet tall, stake them for support. Spray with herbicide at the first appearance of invasive insects; spray with fungicide if mildew or leaf spot develop.
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Tips & Warnings
Foxgloves grown from seeds will not flower during their first growing season, but will form white or green leaves under a foot long instead. Flowers will appear during the following spring and will last about a month or longer in the southernmost locations in Zone 4. Most foxgloves are of the biennial variety and may bloom for a second season. The perennial varieties will produce new stalks every summer under the proper growing conditions.
All parts of the foxglove are considered extremely poisonous.
