Rehmannia elata

Chinese foxglove

• Position: full sun
• Soil: any, fertile, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
• Flowering period: June to September
• Flower colour: purple-pink
• Other features: contact with the foliage may aggravate skin allergies
• Hardiness: hardy annual
  
  From summer to autumn, wiry stems bear open clusters of foxglove-like flowers. Each of these exotic-looking flowers is a vibrant shade of purple-pink, and has a paler throat with reddish spots. A short-lived perennial, it can be overwintered in a greenhouse - or treated as an annual.
  
  
• Garden care:Under glass, surface-sow the seed onto good seed compost and keep at 13 -16°C. Prick out when the seedlings are large enough to handle, potting up into individual pots and growing on. Gradually harden off and plant out at 45cm intervals or pot into larger pots and move outside after all risk of frost has passed. Often take just over one year to produce a flowering plant, they should be kept in pots which can be over-wintered under glass in colder areas.
  
  
• Sow: February-May
  
  
• Flowering: June-October
  
  
• Approximate quantity: 5 seeds.