Wild Foxglove Seeds (Digitalis purpurea)

Wild Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a native biennial of woodland edges, hedgerows, heathland and roadside verges, reaching 50 to 100cm or more in flower. In its first year it forms a rosette of large, soft, downy leaves; in its second it sends up a single tall spike hung with pink-purple, bell-shaped flowers, each spotted inside, and a spike can carry up to 80 flowers. It flowers from June to August.

The tubular flowers are shaped for long-tongued bumblebees, which are the main pollinators, and a stand of foxgloves is a reliable summer draw for them. As a biennial each plant dies after seeding, but it produces huge quantities of fine seed that lies in the soil and germinates whenever ground is disturbed, so it renews itself readily.

It grows on most well-drained soils, with a preference for slightly acid ground, in partial shade or full sun where the soil does not dry out. It suits a woodland edge, a hedge base, a shaded bank, a heathy corner or a rough garden margin. All parts of the plant are poisonous, so site it with care where children or livestock have access.

Sow in spring, or in late summer, onto bare or scarified ground, surface-sown and firmed in without covering; the seed is very fine and needs light. Rosettes form in the first year and flower spikes follow in the second. Leave spikes to shed seed before cutting back, and keep some open ground each year so new plants can establish. Combine with our woodland edge and hedgerow mixes or single species that share the same lightly shaded conditions.