Firmly Rooted The Fabulous Foxglove

from Laurel of Northeast Georgia August 23

Laurel of Northeast Georgia August 23

by Victoria “Tori” Carver – Flower Farmer

I’d like to introduce you to my first foxglove. Tada

I’ve been trying to grow this beauty since the beginning, but I always miss the window of opportunity to get her seeds started. Customarily, foxgloves are biennials which mean they will only produce leaves the first year and in the second year they will flower. However, there are several varieties that are considered annuals and if you get them started early enough in the fall, you will have flowers the following spring and early summer.

I finally got myself together last fall and transplanted a tray of seeds I had started in July/August. They began blooming in June of this year and Jiminy crickets, they are glorious! Honestly, pictures don’t do it justice. What is incredibly unique about this flower (and biennials in general) is they fill a wide gap between the last of the tulips and daffodils and the first of the summer annuals. In other words, if you are looking for color in your garden all season long, Foxgloves are a perfect addition to bridge that gap.

Foxgloves (the biennial version or annual version) are prolific bloomers and are perfect for planting in a landscape or naturalized woodland setting if you’d also like to give them a whirl. They grow best if they are offered some afternoon shade so take that into consideration if planting in your garden. You can sow them indoors and transplant or you can sow them directly in the garden, but be sure not to cover the seeds as they need light to germinate. They are winter hardy to Zone 5 so we are perfect in our local Zone 7. If growing Foxglove as a cut flower, you will want to cut the stems when just a few bottom blossoms are open. Once the blooms are pollinated they drop from the stems so cutting them early will give you the best vase life. Also, cut their stem at ground level to encourage more shoots to grow and develop more stems (and more flowers). If you are growing in a landscape, you can remove the blooms as they fade but I encourage you to cut the stems periodically to reinvigorate the growth of the plant. Towards the end of the season, leaving a few flower heads on the plants will allow them to produce seed that will naturally scatter in your garden giving you Foxgloves year after year after year.

They are a favorite of hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators as well, so that alone is reason enough to add this treasure to your garden. As you can probably tell, I’m completely enamored by this unique flower and she has earned a spot in my forever garden.

If you didn’t know, they grow wild on the Oregon coast and when we vacationed there early this summer they were blooming everywhere we went. Thousands and thousands of purple foxgloves dotted the roadsides and fields. It was such a beautiful site! I’m sure they grow wild elsewhere, but in all my travels, I’ve never seen so many and it was thrilling to say the least.

Victoria (Tori) Carver is a flower farmer. From the thousand bulbs and plants that she puts in the ground each year she creates lovely bouquets. Many enjoy her flowers in their home each week. She has established a subscription program for her customers or a honor-system bouquet sales for random purchases. Tori and her husband and children make their home in Clayton, where they are a treasured part of the community. If you are interested in Firmly Rooted Flower Farm please reach out by email to firmlyrootedflowerfarm@gmail.com or phone 706-490-0041. You will also enjoy their website at www.firmlyrootedflowerfarm.com