digitalis excelsior hybrids

[stella]

Can anyone tell me how easily these seed themselves, and if they come back again with all the original colours? Thanks

[Sharon Bryson]

All digitalis are pretty reliable seeders, but you may get an assortment of colour.
Are your originals all one colour or more than one?

[stella]

well, I've just received my plugs, but they are supposed to be a variety of colours, and then i read about digitalis in the Western Plant Book and it said foxgloves reseed and will be white. Not what I planned. I have 20 plugs, and am hoping to establish the plants as part of my saturday farmer market sales.

[butterfly]

MIne self seed and come back to their orignal colors

unless they arr whitr to begin with

But mine are deep pink, light pink, white and I have the odd pale blue

I don't know whee the blue comes from but that happened the last 2 years

must be the bees as I don't think they come in blue

Must save th seeds seperatly this year if blue comes back

[murphy]

mine come back in pink, yellow and white....that blue sounds quite funky...would like to see that.

[Sandy Zone 3b]

Last spring I seed them and transplanted into the flowerbed. they grew very nicely but didn't flower at all. I never cleaned up in that area in the fall and will do some as soon as it drys up back there (the north side of the house).
If I just trim off all the dead leaves will they still come back from the roots or is it too late for them?

[(old_user)earwig]

I have a variety of types and colour and each year I continue to get a variety of colour. It must be almost 10 years since I planted the first ones. I am not absolutely sure there are any excelsior amoung them but I do know I have foxy (various pink colour), carousel (cream), and a yellow one which I cant't remember the name.

[murphy]

Last spring I seed them and transplanted into the flowerbed. they grew very nicely but didn't flower at all. I never cleaned up in that area in the fall and will do some as soon as it drys up back there (the north side of the house).
If I just trim off all the dead leaves will they still come back from the roots or is it too late for them?

They quite often will not bloom the first year...they are what is referred to as a biennial...they grow a clump of foliage the first year then bloom the second and seed then die...I have however had mine come back the year after blooming. You should be able to see some green leaves of the foxglove crown as soon as the snow melts....if all you have is a crusty dead brown crown chances the plant died. Don't do anything hasty and pull it out yet...leave it for a week or two and if there are still no signs of growth..just pull them.

[Sandy Zone 3b]

Thanks for the help on Foxgloves! There's only been once that I've ever had flowers, so am hoping to get a clump of them established. There's just something about them, waving in the breeze and all the new colors, of course! Every year I keep putting in more seeds!