Glorious, erasmus. I've had no luck with those here. My mother grew Russell lupins in England with great success, and they're the flower I miss the most.

I love them. You will have foxgloves forever now.

That looks wonderfully cool and lush!

I enjoy foxgloves, too. I grow only white ones because I want to keep them white, an idea I got from Jon in Wessex on this forum some years ago. They look brown and ugly as the seeds are curing, so I pull them up as soon as the seeds can be scattered. In fact, that was part of today's garden cleanup. Foxgloves and columbines are the only flowers I deliberately encourage to re-seed. Sweet peas used to be on that list, until someone told me that they can be invasive in our area. Huh! Who'd have thought that sweet peas could even survive without irrigation?

So beautiful.

Thank you. To start, it seemed I'd have only the white ones but then some pink ones opened up. I'm thinking this variety is Excelsior hybrids. I don't know if they'll keep coming back...I've grown foxgloves before and guess conditions weren't right for the seeds to germinate.

I stuck foxgloves all over the place and some did well in really dry spots so that was surprising. Here is a white one with white rose, Moonlight.

With Purple Skyliner

We did get a heat wave later in May . The foxgloves held up for about a week and then declined.

But I was happy that they bloomed along with the roses .

Your foxgloves are fantastic Erasmus! I love seeing so many of them in one planting.

Erasmus - love your foxgloves - they are stunning! I had Apricot ones for a long time, and then a couple years ago they disappeared on us. We think because of bad freeze/thaw swings one winter. Still trying to get them reestablished.

I can't think of too many plants that nearly steal the show from the roses when it blooms. Yours are magnificent! They are generous self-seeders so you'll probably have them in the future, too.

Thank you. I didn't start any seeds of it this year, hoping some germinate on their own. It has been a dry summer. The seedlings of lupines and foxgloves were very cooperative, I mean, put on good growth quickly. I did have to baby the plants last summer once I put them in the ground. They would wilt if it got too hot. But they must have put out a long tap root during the winter because they were not demanding this spring even when we lacked rain.

I forgot to mention the Canterbury Bells I grew from seed at the same time. I planted some out and babied them through the summer last year too. They looked pretty good but declined and shriveled up this spring. The only ones that made it and bloomed were in a lot of shade. They seem a lot more heat and drought sensitive. They did grow easily as little seedlings.

O boy does this ever remind me of how much I want to get rid of my rose pot ghetto and move on to companion planting and groundcovers!!!!!!

I get the impression you have a lot of space, Bart. I don't , and often want to grow things I don't have room for. I have lost patience with roses that sucker a lot because they just deprive me of room for other things. It was great to get rid of Ruth's German Rose even though it is very pretty and healthy. I'm going to grow it in a pot.

ooooh, good!

Erasmus - your stunning white foxgloves got me searching for seeds. Besides the classic Alba, I came across this, that another source says blooms first year from seed, is shorter, and has leaves like lambs ears: https://www.selectseeds.com/heirloom-perennials-2/foxglove_silver_fox_seeds.aspx
Am also thinking about trying one of the “Pippa” series (Polkadot, Polly…) that bloom through the summer — or so they say. Have you tried any of these?: https://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/view/?id=4232

Lack of space isn't my problem, erasmus! It's that my garden is way too big for just one person to care for, and I don't have running water,and I don't have a house out there ,and I have a lot of other non-garden work. Over the years I've learned that ,with these limitations,it's best to try to sort of try to "categorize" . I have added some companions, but without great success, because I had too much to do with getting roses established to be able to care for the companions in a systematic way. That is to say: in the dead of roasting hot, dry summer,when being outdoors is a misery,you can't water 40 new implanted roses and shrubs/trees, PLUS water a bunch of perennials and groundcovers,especially considering my limited water supply.. So my plan is to try to finish up with the major rose plantings hopefully next year. After that, instead of putting in 40 rose/tree/shrubs,I hope to only put in a couple new ones, and start with the companions and groundcovers, doing one small area at a time. At that point I'm hoping I can also automize my watering somewhat. While trying to get a rose established in it's first year, I hesitate to do without hand-watering; watering by hand, I can be sure that each new implant is getting it's full 10-15 liters of water.

Erasmus - keep us posted on any new foxglove attempts! I love that cottage garden effect. You really nailed that Gertrude Jekyll ideal!
Plus foxgloves and other part shade/light shade reseeders reseed and get a foot hold more easily despite the tree root competition. Unfortunately global warming has increased freeze/thaw seesawing in the winter - what did in my old ones and some other plants. Not sure where you garden but if you have any tips would love to hear! I had done that seeding multiple years in a row thing to get them going, and it worked, until they all got wiped out 2 years ago.
Btw - I can totally relate about not sending in an order to Annie’s yet — I have a wish list and keep putting items in the basket, but then hesitate given it’s on the other side of the country — especially shipping in the current heat conditions…

Gosh, I love foxgloves! Yours are perfect, Erasmus!! Aren’t they magnificent when they stick around and thrive? My neighbor has grown them for years, and they show up in the craziest placest, like in her severly underwatered beds right next to my driveway. Taunting me. I’ve tried to establish foxgloves in my garden several times, but they fade away after a couple of years. I’m going to try again in a gravely area next to a stone walk. I’ll add some semi rich soil over the extra well-drained gravel. I think too rich soil and drainage are my issues. 🤞Carol

I'm in the NC piedmont area, aerbk. Usually I start looking at Annie's Annuals site in January or so, but it's too cold to ship then. They can have just what I want when it's too cold, and then can be sold out later. But usually there are a lot of tempting plants I want. I'd really like to see their nursery. It costs a lot to ship here but the plant prices are pretty good.

Carol, it must be nice to have too rich soil. I remember in 1984 my family went on a camping trip from Houston to the Rocky Mtn Nat. park, on to Yellowstone, then up to Idaho and then to the Olympic Peninsula in WA. I remember in WA seeing wild focksgloves ( the eks key on my keyboard is not working) growing on the side of the road, and in people's gardens there were big oriental poppies. I think I remember delphiniums. I don't see wild focksgloves here.

The PNW climate would probably suit me but wouldn't want TOO much rain. I am pretty happy with the NC climate but it is too hot for some things. I'm afraid I won't have fogloves net year because we probably just don't get enough consistent rain. Wouldn't I be seeing seedlings already? I cut back most of the focksgloves and most turned into black crispy stumps which I haven't dug up yet. But one or two plants still look pretty good and are trying to bloom some more...little bitty stalks compared to the earlier ones. Maybe they'll survive the winter.

Erasmus - I know what you mean about being put of sync with shipping times.
About the foxgloves reseeding — had all the seeds popped off the stems and scattered before you cut them back? And/or you can pull off the ripened seeds when you cut the stems off, then scatter them where you want them. Or id you have seeds left from any of your packs you can scatter some more around. To get them established and some blooming every year you have to seed at least 2 years in a row….

What a wonderful trip across the country, Erasmus! Yes, foxgloves have naturalized along the Pacific coast. When my family travels to the beaches in OR, we pass stands of them along the highways. They seem to thrive in the climate and on sloped clay terrain with average rainfall.

Having grown up in Dallas, I have really enjoyed the PNW climate, although weather patterns are certainly changing and not for the better. NC sounds miles better than Houston. I actually fainted one summer in downtown Houston!

We can cheer each other on for future foxglove success! Your photos sure are inspiring!! What you mentioned about Annie’s is so true. The stock of plants that I am considering always seems to immediately sell out if I pause for even a moment. I have been hopelessly trying to acquire Lauren’s Grape poppies and certain columbines for several years. I’m not planning to add any more roses to my garden except a few that are currently unattainable, so maybe like Bart I can take a running leap at companion perennials this spring!

Carol

Aerbk, I did let them go to seed, and also scattered some seeds myself. It has been a dry summer here.

Thank you, Carol. I bought Lauren's Grape seeds somewhere and a few came up but didn't do well. They bloomed a few days and then the plants melted away . swallowtail seeds impressed me with the quantity of seeds they sent compared to other seed packets. There is at least one specialty poppy seed shop online with Lauren's Grape and many others.

I got interested in lilies this spring and ordered some from I think it was The Lily Garden out west somewhere. They hybridize lilies also. Turns out that fall is probably a better time to plant lilies but all the bulbs they sent did well. Lilies seem pretty tough. I have some big clumps of old Walmart bag lilies that do very well but weren't true to name. The fragrant ones waft better than many roses.

Erasmus my foxglove self seed like crazy and while I do get some babies this time of year, the spring is really when they start popping up everywhere. So just because you aren’t seeing babies right now I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you had a nice little crop in spring