Digitalis/foxglove is a biennial--grows leaves & stem first year, blooms second year and dies off. It produces an abundance of seed and reseeds itself quite prolifically from what I've read which gives it the appearance of being perennial.

I WS foxglove seeds last year (which was my first time winter sowing) on December 26 . From the looks of my milk jugs, I think I got 200% germination.

{{gwi:350178}}

Yours should do fine via winter sowing.

I was lucky, one of mine bloomed the first year! Now, I'm looking forward for the rest...

{{gwi:350179}}

I don't know what zone you're in....foxglove covers a whole lot of digitalis plants. Most will winter sow (surface sown) quite well, but just about none need the extended chill so no real reason to rush to get them out most climates. They will germinate within about 3 weeks maximum from the time temps begin to warm up a little in early Spring whether sown in December or March, depending on where you live.

In my 8b, D. ambigua (best foliage here for me), d. grandiflora, d. ferruginea will all germinate around the end of March no matter what winter month sown - April if we're having a cool season.

Help me out - BEC. That's going over my head. " Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification"?

There are a few that are reliably perennial, at least in my zone but I don't think limited to here.
Smaller, more narrow and slightly shiny leaves, just about all of them soft yellow flowers -
Ambigua/grandiflora,, lanata, lutea, not only very perennial, also close to evergreen most years.

Our native purpurea very much biennial in my garden.

I have d. parviflora Milk Chocolate on my 'maybe' list for a Chiltern seed order, color wouldn't be for everyone but I admit to different taste. Also supposed to be reliably perennial.

I have had some foxglove (Candy Mountain) survive and bloom three years if they are deadheaded and not allowed to seed.

Digitalis lutea has been perennial for me and took three years before blooming.

As you can see from gardenweed's photo they germinate very well so I sow sparingly and plant out as HOS.

You don't say what zone you are in, but here at the border of 7/6b, I wintersow foxglove anytime after the winter soltice. Because I tend to sow thickly, I will separate seedlings in the spring to grow on in 4 inch pots. If I could just bring my self to sow more thinly, I would probably do HOS. I've done foxgloves of various speies and variety for the last four years and had good luck with all of them.

Sorry, must add my zone to my profile!
Those seedlings look beautiful.
The package I have - digitalis Mert. appricot - says it blooms first year.
What I'm worried about is - if seedlings emerge in 14-21 days, they will be emerging into sub-freezing temperatures.

Is that OK?

I don't want to do what I did one year with my annuals - which is got too eager and planted them in Feb. and had to protect them til April.

ellen

Ellen, seedlings should emerge once the seeds have experienced temps closer to 60's for the 14-21 days, not before. It takes more than moist soil and light to wake the little guys up, they need some more extended warmth.

If you were to have a week or two of unusually warm winter weather, there is a chance they could germinate, but more likely is you won't see seedlings until your temps have warmed up overall and stayed there for a while.

Thanks for adding your zone!

Ellenr, Digitalis x mertonensis is a hybrid of Digitalis purpurea (biennial) and D. grandiflora (perennial) and is supposed to grow like a short-lived perennial. I don't think your seeds are going to sprout until it warms up so don't worry. Although Foxglove is pretty hardy, and remains semi-evergreen over the winter even in my zone.

I've winter-sown D. purpurea and bought plants - it is pretty much biennial but sometimes comes back for a 3rd year if deadheaded.

D. grandiflora has been reliably perennial. Oddly, I tried to winter-sow D. grandiflora 2 years in a row (commercial seeds) with NO germination. But the plants I bought from Bluestone, have reseeded in the gardens nicely! Go figure.

According to my WS sprout chart, I sowed foxglove seeds--Digitalis purpurea 'Apricot Beauty'--on December 30 and got the first sprout on March 25. They were outside the whole time and never got any protection from late season frosts, which we had right up until mid-May. I'm in Z6a right on the border with/2 miles south of Z5b in north central Connecticut.

I think most types of foxglove are pretty tough. I am also in zone 6 and wintersowed various foxglove types in Dec for 2 years with lots of success. These were both wintersown.

{{gwi:350180}}

{{gwi:350181}}

Lois what is your white Foxglove? It's very pretty. I just bought some Camelot white from Swallowtail seeds. I think Foxglove is so pretty, and because of this thread, I started googling around on different kinds of Digitalis. Quietly enjoying looking at google images, I clicked on the Swallowtail website to look at one of their pretty pictures. Wow did they have a lot of nice Foxgloves. Proceeded to go nuts and spend $44 on seeds! The order includes 5 different types of Foxglove seeds, Echinacea Powwow Berry, etc. which of course, I had intended to buy anyway. Yippee!! The seed buying has begun.

Well, I think it's just "White Foxglove", LOL. I got it last year either in a trade or the secret santa swap. Congrats on the new seeds; I am starting the seed buying madness, too. If you want some of the white foxglove seeds, you can send me a SASE and I'll send you some.

Pretty Pictures! I'm excited about the Foxgloves, though, they seem to be rabbit magnets in my little patch.

Wow, Ladyrose, I'm surprised that rabbits eat your Foxglove. All parts of Digitalis are extremely poisonous and it is not usually bothered by any critters.

Thanks sharing Swallowtail terrene! I just ordered foxglove seed too! I got 'Pam's Choice' which I have been wanting forever, but have been to cheap to buy the actual plant. Of course, I can't just order one seed packet because you know . . . you have to justify the shipping costs! So, $20.00 later I have it. Maybe I should have ordered just the plant! Nahhhhhh!
Sheri

Just in case you are tempted:

Here is a link that might be useful: Swallowtail Garden Seeds

thanks, you'all for all that good information.

Today we have the 3rd snow of the year,
altho "only" 8 inches, so a perfect day to start W-S'ing.

this is my 1st time to do foxglove, those pics are beautiful!

I'm happy this thread encouraged some of you to buy more seeds, cuz I'm sure you didn't have enough! :)

ellen