Currently, enjoying your foxgloves in full flower but wondering how long they will last? Let’s have a look and find out how long foxgloves flower for.
How Long Do Foxgloves Flower For?
As a general rule of thumb though expect two months of flowering out of your foxgloves and if you get any longer then count yourself lucky.
Deadhead For Second Flowering
Deadheading finished foxglove flowers can often induce a second flowering in the same year from your plant.
Cut the spent stems all the way back to the base of the plant using a pair of sharp secateurs.
Then give the plant a really good water and a good feed. This will often encourage the plant back into fresh growth and before long you will be greeted with new flowers.
As with most plants the second blooming is often not as large or as impressive as the first but it is still well worthwhile.
What to do With Deadheaded Flowers
You will see many people online telling you not to put dead foxglove flower heads in your compost heap as the seeds will stay there and you will then spread them around your garden.
While this is technically true it only matters if you cold compost. If you use hot composting methods then the heat will be enough to kill the seeds, as it does with all weed seeds.
This is why hot composting is such a good idea, and it’s not hard to do. You just need to make a big heap, use a mix of brown and green materials and turn it regularly.
Save The Seed
You can also save the seed from your foxgloves when you remove the spent flowers. This is great if you plan on growing some fresh plants from seed to grow in a different area of your garden.
How To Get A Foxglove Display Every Year
So if you want flowers every year what do you need to do? The answer is simple but requires a little more work to set up.
Essentially you need to have a staggered system set up, where you have some foxgloves in their first year and some in their second year at all times.
This means you will never be without flowers come summertime.
And the best thing about growing your foxgloves like this is that once it is up and running you can leave the plants to it. They will self-seed every year giving you fresh plants every year.
Then because the flowering is staggered the seeding will be staggered. So you will have a perpetual cycle of young plants not flowering and older plants flowering from now on. It goes without saying that with this method you need to let the plants self-seed, so no overactive deadheading!
You can find out more about growing foxgloves in this way in my post When To Sow Foxglove Seeds.
More On Foxgloves
Foxgloves (Digitalis) is a flowering plant that actually contains biennials, perennials and shrubs all under the common name foxglove.
These plants are native to Europe and even parts of northern Africa, they are woodland plants and as such love a little bit of shade.
They come in a huge range of colours so you are sure to find one that you love and even if you don’t find the perfect spot for them straight away don’t panic, you can always transplant them.
As most people are aware foxgloves are poisonous if digested. The active ingredient in foxgloves that makes them poisonous also works as a medicine as as such numerous drugs are made using foxgloves.
Fatalities are rare from foxgloves but they do occur and for this reason, it is important to take care when gardening with foxglove, wear gloves when handling them and make sure you avoid touching your eyes or mouth after handling them.
Most fatalities actually occur when the plant has been mistaken for something else and digested in large quantities.
There have also been numerous reports of young children dying after drinking the vase water that foxgloves have been in. This is definitely something to think about if you plan on using them as a cut flower and your house has children or grandchildren in it!