What kind of foxgloves? Digitalis purpurea is a biennial, or at best a very short-lived perennial.

And I've never been able to winter over D. mertoniensis, which is supposed to be perennial. Have great luck with D. ferruginea, D. thapsii, and D. lutea, however.

I am in MN too, and sought out this forum because my foxglove are also showing no sign of coming back. Even if they do not bloom this year, they should show green, should they not? I am wondering how hardy they really are for zn3/4. Here we had very little snow cover this year. That is not great for perennials. I just started last year with this addition to my garden and am very disappointed to find they are that tough to over winter. They were so pretty too. I also started seeds that claimed they would bloom in one season. NOT!. No sign of those plants either. I guess I will cross Foxglove off my list.

Are any foxgloves true perennials? If so I"m in !

Foxgloves confuse me. One year I bought them and planted them and they bloomed beautifully a couple of months after I planted them. I was so excited to add them to my garden. The next spring there was NO sign of them whatsoever. So last year I bought 6 more and planted them but they didn't bloom, just grew lots of foliage. So I figured if they were a biennial they would come up this spring and bloom this summer, but only a couple of them show any signs of new growth. Why did the first batch bloom the year I planted them and the second batch didn't?

Folks, we need to use the Latin names here because we're talking apples and oranges. The most commonly sold foxgloves are biennials. True perennials include Digitalis lutea, D. ferruginea, D. thapsii and a few others. D. mertoniensis is supposed to be a perennial, but I've never been able to overwinter it. D. purpurea is NOT a perennial but a biennial, and it often self sows so new plants keep coming.

Tricia, as laceyvail said, usually those sold are purpurea, biennials. Yours should bloom this season. I'm in a warm end of zone 6, my purpurea stay green all winter, look absolutely awful but start putting out nice growth. Mine are just now starting to look decent & should bloom before too long if I remember right. I have a couple of yellow forms that are perennials, & do well, but I really need to plant more of them. Purpurea are so large that even one plant makes a statement, but the perennials need a grouping. I have always thought they would reseed, but apparently they don't reseed like purpurea. Even purpurea doesn't reseed heavily for me.

If you bought them at the garden center and they were beinnials then you bought them when they were in their second year ready to send up their bloomstalk. So then they bloomed that year I guess and then they were finished. I also didn't realize some were biennials and some were true perennials. Some of mine didn't return this year either so they were the ones that were biennial and bloomed last year and are now done. They are so gorgeous. Some did set seeds which took and those baby seedlings are what will bloom this year though. I guess I should go buy some more because they are just so beautiful and they also attract hummingbird which I also love.

I don't think foxgloves like MN. Over the years, I've tried just about every variety and have only had a couple survive our winters and bloom. I don't even bother with them any more, but if you really want some try Foxy. It blooms the first year from seed, but then croaks. They're easy to grow, so it might be worth a shot.

Kevin

I've had D. lutea (a/k/a ambigua) for years, even when this was zone 4, and they did fine as a perennial and modestly reseeded. Still have them. I planted 3 smallish white d. purpurea last summer - one bloomed and I cut it back before it got far - all three seem to be still with me but the one that had tried to bloom is not doing all that great. I know these are biennials but I wanted them to flower this summer and then, hopefully, reseed. Or maybe I'll collect some seed and sow it. I'd love to get these etablished so they maintain themselves as the regular D. purpurea does for a friend.

Well I cannot do latin names, I have enough trouble remembering common names, but I am a bit frustrated. The rule of thumb is to buy from a green house in your area and you should be safe. My foxglove said perennial, and that it would bloom every other year. I tried seeds also that claimed they would grow and bloom the same year. The seeds did not and I see no sign my foxglove reseeded. If they were as cheap as annuals one could keep re-buying them. Fool me once shame you fool me twice... I am done with them!

Just planted a new garden in backyard yesterday that gets 4 hours morning sun, then shade rest of day. we went to our local garden center and saw the foxgloves and decided they would be a good choice(we are not expert gardeners and had never heard of these) Long story short, just found out from a friend we told of what we planted that these are biennials as we just were picking out flowers out of the garden center's periennial section. i dont have the exact genus name. but the label on the pot says it is 'Camelot Lavender Foxglove" and Digitalis Camelot Lavender. Does anyone have experience with this species? Since it is in full bloom now(why we liked it so much) am i not to expect it to come back next year? will it ever come back- ie if it does not come back next summer, just wait til the following summer for it to bloom again.

Well little late now I now, but here's my experience :D

I have D. ambigua (although Parks seed mis-labled them as D. grandiflora) and mine have been back (from the root)now for the 3rd year. Last fall I dug them up and moved them to another location and all 7 of them survived....the clumps have gotten bigger each year, but in flower only grow to about 2'.

Vera

p.s. Everything I said applies to Camelot Rose and other varietals folks have asked about-- these are all digitalis purp. I agree with those who pleaded for latin names.....the common names just add to the confusion because perennial digitalis is completely different. Also sometimes nurseries call biennials "perennials" because the plants do self-sow and they don't want to discourage customers from buying them.

Also biennals do not "come back" every other year. They sow seeds one year, the original plants die, and the new seedlings flower the second year. This is why Camelot Rose may not come back true to color -- it isn't the same plant, but offspring, which may or may not have been subject to cross pollination with other digitalis.

Lots of good information here about Foxglove!

I'm surrounded by it, it's wild here. It comes back every year without fail - though I'm assuming that they're different plants. It's hard to keep track.

What I can say is that they like very long hours of slightly filtered sun. That's the one variable that seems to be a requirement for ours around here. They go crazy wherever there is filtered sun for most of the day. Anywhere else, they don't thrive.

SO if I understand this right, if I want to get a bed of foxglove going (digitalis purpurea) in NW MN zone 3b. This year I could buy plants at the nursery that might bloom. But I should also spread some seeds for plants to get started for next year.

I have some native seed that I picked up last fall, and forgot about. Does this seed need cold stratification? Or can I sprinkle them out now. HOPEFULLY our cold weather is done for the year!

Jenny P