When to plant Digitalis

Hi everyone,

I’d like to grow some digitalis that will hopefully flower next year. I’m trying to do it economically and see a few nurseries that are selling bulk packs of plug plants. If I buy the plugs do I grow them on and then into the ground or can they be planted straight into the ground? When should I do this?


Any recommendations on where to get the, from?

Many thanks,

Ed

 

I used to sow seed around June/July, then grow them on and pot them up eventually into 2L pots ready to overwinter outside. Then I plant out around March/April.
You could get the plugs now/soon and do the same. They're likely to be too small to survive in the ground now, so grow them on in pots.

I've not bought plugs, so can't recommend I'm afraid.

 

If you buy seed just now, and sow them, you should have lots of small plants which you can grow on as @Pete8 describes. The size they reach by autumn/winter will just depend on your general conditions.
I've never bought plugs of digitalis either, but I'd be questioning how good/viable they are if they're still in plugs at this time of year. They may not be in brilliant health. Whether you can plant them out - again, it depends on your conditions and how viable they are. I wouldn't put any plug plants directly into the ground though - I'd pot them on and make sure they were doing well before planting out.

 

Hi @machtucker I help at a woodland where we have been growing wild flowers to add to the diversity. Digitalis, especially native ones, are easy peasy from seed. You would end up with millions! We just scatter in a seed tray, cover lightly with soil, and they're up in a few weeks.
If you want the fancy colours, that seed will be more expensive, so I'd be a bit more careful to ensure it's well spread out.

 

Thanks everyone.

Growing from seed sounds like the most economical way of doing things. I'm getting very confused though as when I look at different seeds packs and websites there's such a range of sowing/planting times. I'd like something I can sow this year and then flowers in spring/summer next year.

Different varieties appear to have different growing regimes which is making my head explode. I'm looking for a purple and white or cream variety in the 0.5 to 1m height range. Any recommendations?

Many thanks
E

 

The best time to sow for flowering plants next year is to sow around the same time as when the plants start to drop their seed naturally - which around here is June/July.

I've only ever sown and grown D.Alba and they grew into magnificent plants about 6-7ft.
All the other foxgloves in my garden self sown by the plants. I just thin them out or move them around.
They come up in all sorts of colours and often grow to all sorts of sizes - but I find size depends on how fertile the soil is. Very fertile soil produces big plants like my D.Alba, those in other parts of my garden on poorer soil get to anywhere between 3 and 5ft.

 

For the last two years, I did this: Took the seeds from the plants in the beds when the were over. In a tray sown (I did it last week), it took them just days. Some of them used for little pots. When they had grown in the pots, I planted them in September. They all survived our mild winter. This applies for the ordinary Foxgloves. The creamy ones are more difficult and I planted them in March. But they flowered in the following year.
Wiltshire is not that far from Hampshire, so should be similar temperatures and amount of rain.

 

If you do grow from seed, I'd get going as soon as you can.
Bear in mind that foxglove seeds are incredibly tiny so try and sow as thinly as you can and don't be tempted to sow too many.

It never ceases to amaze me that such miniscule seeds produce such big plants.

 

I've grown Pam's Choice in the past @machtucker - which is white with dark purple spotting.It just crosssed with the wild ones after a year or so. I expect it would have been better to collect seed before that happened and keep it going, but I didn't bother. I had to remove one last year that had obviously crosssed at some point and was too similar to the native one.
I grew one called Snow Thimble [pure white] which was a bit better - about 3 feet, and did well for a couple of years, but they eventually did the same as that other one. The native one is too vigorous so it requires a lot of effort to gather and sow seed, and I really can't be bothered!

I'm growing D. ALba, and have one plant which has flowered out of all the seed sown.
I've got D. lutea, which is shorter, but is creamy yellow, so wouldn't suit you. None of those germinated last year so I've sown more and will see what happens.
It's too late here to have plants of any size by autumn for flowering the following year, but it might be ok where you are. I've currently got some self sown seedlings that I've removed and potted up, and which are now reasonable sized plants, but they won't flower til next year.

 

Hi @machtucker I've sent you a PM in case you want some white digitalis seed - I get lots

 

These days I just throw the seed around when it's ripe but before it's ll blown away (when the pods have turned from green to brown, I just did some yesterday) where I'd like foxgloves to grow, and see what nature gives me. That's just the ordinary ones, white and purple/magenta, and occasionally an in-between shade. You might want to sow in pots or trays if you're using expensive bought seed, but the timing should be about the same.

 

Good afternoon everyone!

Right....I have been to the garden centre and bought a few seed trays and propagator covers (not sure if I will need these atm). I have also bough some Digitalis Purpurea seeds and some Suttons Apricot seeds are on the way in the post too.

My plan is to sew these tomorrow. Should I keep the trays inside or can they be kept outside at the moment? I understand that I can prick them out once the second set of leaves have formed and plant them into pots to grow on. Different people seem to say different things but I'm planning to plant them out in the garden in the autumn. Does this sound sensible or should I wait and see what the plants look like then? I guess if they are looking small I could leave them in the pots till next spring.

Many thanks for your continued knowledge and patience!

Ed

 

The seed is really tiny, so sow on the surface of the compost. I use a little vermiculite to cover them, but if you don't have any it's not a problem, just make sure the surface of the compost never dries out until they germinate - a hand held sprayer is handy for that - keep the surface just barely moist.

I'd keep the trays inside with the lids on until you see some germinate. At that point remove the lid as it may encourage fungi/damping off disease.
Once the true leaves have formed and they're big enough to handle, you can prick them out. I usually use a seedbox as the plants are really tiny and would look lost even in a small pot.
At that time I'd move them outside somewhere bright, but sheltered from heavy rain, and move them into pots when they look big enough. Mine were usually big enough to go in 2L pots by Autumn.

If they're good size plants by autumn, by all means plant them out.
If not, wait until March(ish) next year to plant out.

Once you have them in your garden they self-seed easily (if you leave the dead flower head on the plant) and it's easy to spot the seedlings, usually in early Spring, and you can pot them up and plant out where you want them the following year.
Ot cut the dead flower spike off and shake it where you want more to grow.
Each flowerhead will have many thousands of seeds.
The resulting seedlings won't necessarily be the same colour as the parent - likely a mixture of colours.

 

Fabulous, thanks very much for the information I will give it a go tomorrow.

Another question - Why when they self seed wont they be the same colour as the parent? Very curious

 

It's the nature of things.
Insects (bees mostly) will get pollen from different coloured flowers and maybe it's that that causes it.
Tbh - I don't really know, so I'll find out