Life Without Foxgloves

Foxgloves rule in my garden in June and July. You can see what I mean:

I published a lot of pictures showing foxgloves in their glory. But, those times are gone. The August garden has new stars - Joe Pye weed, perennial phlox, Russian sage, etc. The following pictures show foxgloves at the end of July when they passed their peak, had seeded and were pulled out.

Foxgloves are very important plants in my garden. I love them not only for their look, bold and beautiful, but also for the easiness of growing them. Honestly saying, I actually don't grow them. They grow on their own. I just pluck the plants that pop up in wrong locations. They are disease-  and pest-free, drought- and deer-resistent. 

They grow in all my gardens - terrace garden of perennials and vegetables, kitchen garden, front garden, etc.

They thrive in soil which was enriched with compost and in poor sandy soil which has never been improved. They grow in full or part sun. I don't see any difference in the plants' height, vigor and appearance.

By the beginning of August, many foxgloves bend and fall.

Since they have shallow roots, they might fall on their own, especially after rains and strong winds. 

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These flower stalks could stay longer, but were knocked down by heavy rain.

I used them for my last foxglove bouquets:

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 Foxgloves in my garden are always tall, but this year they were taller than ever: 8 feet (240 cm) and higher.

I usually start removing the foxgloves from the garden when the only flowers left are those on the very top:

I felt almost sad pulling them when some of them still had blooms.

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I take out some plants and leave some others which still have side stalks with flowers, like the one in the picture below:

New plants are already growing. Since foxgloves are biannual, these new plants will bloom next year. Actually, I am pulling a lot of foxglove seedlings now, especially those which grow on the garden paths.

Some of you wrote in your comments how difficult it is to grow foxgloves in your area. Would you hate me if I showed this? The new plants:

Guess who was saddened the most by the foxgloves disappearing? The bees and bumblebees! They were checking the flowers even on the plants in the blue waste can:

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The last to go were the white plants.

 I would like to have more white foxgloves. So far, the pink and purple colors are prevailing.

 White foxgloves look good together with white verbascum, daisies and dahlias.

 I didn't collect any foxglove seeds this year. I am sure they'll come back next year. They always do.

Bye-bye Foxglove!

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Previous posts about foxgloves can be found usind a label Foxgloves on the bottom of the page.

This foxglove picture from 2009 is one of my favorites.

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS