Digitalis ferruginea
rusty foxglove
- Position: full sun to partial shade
- Soil: moist, humus-rich soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: May to July
- Flower colour: golden-brown
- Hardiness: fully hardy
Elegant spires of long golden-brown, tubular flowers appear during midsummer. This is an unusual variation on the common foxglove that will add height to a shady corner of the garden and looks lovely dotted among ferns or other woodland plants. Although short-lived, given the right conditions it will perpetuate by self-seeding.
All parts of the plant may cause severe discomfort if ingested and contact with the foliage may irritate skin. - Garden care: Ensure that the soil is kept moist in summer. After flowering cut back the flowered spikes to encourage more sideshoots. Cut down to the ground after flowering. Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-ro tted organic matter around the plant in early spring.
These plants are mainly biennial, although they will produce plenty of new sideshoots and self-seed freely.
- CAUTION toxic if eaten
Pulmonaria 'Sissinghurst White'
lungwort
Pure white flowers green leaves with white spots
Asplenium scolopendrium Crispum Cristatum Group
hart's tongue fern
A showy fern for a shady border
Dryopteris filix-mas
male fern
Ideal for the woodland garden
Aconitum napellus
monkshood
Gorgeous deep blue flowers glow in the shade
How to get more flowers
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This shorter rusty-brown foxglove is truly perennial and its subtle cream and brown flowers have touches of red - making it easy with pinks
Val Bourne - Garden Writer