Growing foxgloves for the first time and excitedly waiting for those first flowers to appear? Then you will no doubt want to know exactly when you can expect these flowers to appear.
When Do Foxgloves Flower?
Some flower a little earlier and some flower a little later, but for us in the UK June and July are definitely the main months for flowering foxgloves.
So My Foxglove won’t Flower In Its First Year?
I’m afraid not, pretty much all foxgloves grown in the UK are biennial, which means they grow foliage and develop roots in their first year. They then go dormant over winter before coming back in their second year and flowering.
Perennial foxgloves are available that may flower in their first year but they are nowhere near as common and also usually not as nice as biennial foxgloves.
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!
More On Foxgloves
Foxgloves (Digitalis) is a flowering plant that actually contains biennials, perennials and shrubs all under the common name foxglove.
Most foxgloves are biennials and will only live for two years. You can read about it in my Do Foxgloves Come Back Every Year Article.
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.
As most people are aware foxgloves are poisonous if digested. The active ingredient in foxgloves that makes them poisonous also works as a medicine and 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!