Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea · Plantaginaceae Popular
Tall spires of spotted, bell-shaped flowers bring height to part-shade beds in early summer. Each plant flowers in its second year, then sets seed for the next generation.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around foxglove
The planner designed this bed around foxglove when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why foxglove stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Foxglove × 4, purple
- 2 Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet' × 15, lavender
- 3 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 4 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 5 Northern sea oats × 5, tan
- 6 Snowdrop × 12, white
- 7 Spring starflower × 5, blue
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are medium and fine. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only spires. The others are daisies, open bowls, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only purple.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to northern sea oats (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 places. An accent is a punctuation mark: the repeat along the bed gives it rhythm.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From early June to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' in early June: 2 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 26 of the 33 plants (79%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. A cool scheme: purple, lavender, pink, blue, tan and white. Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet' and bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' finish the front edge.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 2 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Foxglove is highly poisonous to people, dogs, cats and horses. Northern sea oats spreads aggressively.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where foxglove goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Dot single plants through the back of the bed and let them seed where they like: a row of foxgloves looks wrong, a scatter looks as if it happened by itself. It is highly poisonous, so it is not for gardens where children or pets may chew plants.
- Tall spires in part shade and at woodland edges
- Cottage gardens
- Self-seeding through a border for a natural look
What to plant with foxglove
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Astilbe: in flower together for four weeks, from late June; fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Columbine: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for two weeks; fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about foxglove
Does foxglove need sun or shade?
Foxglove grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does foxglove grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does foxglove flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to early July |
| Zone 8 | Late May to early July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should foxglove be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many foxglove plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used four in two groups.
Is foxglove poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: severe toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. All parts are highly poisonous if eaten and affect the heart; even small amounts can be life-threatening. Avoid it where children or pets may chew plants.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Do deer eat foxglove?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will foxglove spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. A short-lived plant that keeps going by self-seeding. Thin or move seedlings where they are not wanted. It has escaped into the wild in the Pacific Northwest.
What flowers after foxglove?
Foxglove is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Garden phlox: from mid July to early September, 3½ ft tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does foxglove look like in winter?
Foxglove dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is foxglove good for bees and butterflies?
Foxglove is visited by pollinators, bees and butterflies.
More Digitalis
- Foxglove 'Dalmatian Purple' Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple'
- Rusty foxglove Digitalis ferruginea
- Straw foxglove Digitalis lutea
- Strawberry foxglove Digitalis x mertonensis
- Yellow foxglove Digitalis grandiflora
In these guides
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July; upright spires; purple, pink, white
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Comes from
- Europe
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.