Alright, let me tell you about my foxglove gardening adventure. I’ve always admired those tall, elegant spires of flowers, so I finally decided to give them a go. It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, but hey, that’s gardening, right?
First off, I did a bit of research. Turns out foxgloves are biennials, mostly. That means they grow leaves one year, then flowers the next. Some act like perennials though, so it can be a bit confusing. Anyway, I figured I’d start with seeds. Seemed easy enough.
I scattered the tiny seeds directly on the soil surface in late spring. Big mistake! They need light to germinate, and I probably buried half of them. Plus, I totally forgot to keep the soil consistently moist. So, germination was spotty, to say the least.
Next year, I started my seeds indoors in early spring. This time, I just sprinkled them on top of some seed-starting mix and gently misted them. Much better! I got a whole bunch of tiny seedlings. Transplanting them was a pain though, those little roots are so delicate!
I chose a spot in my garden that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. Foxgloves like that kind of dappled light. The soil there is pretty well-drained, too, which is important because they hate soggy feet. I amended the soil with some compost just to give them a little boost.
Now, here’s where things got interesting. Some of my foxgloves flowered the first year! I was so excited. But then I learned that sometimes they do that when they’re stressed. Maybe I was too rough when transplanting them? Who knows.
The next year, though, bam! The real show started. Those tall flower spikes shot up like crazy. The bees went absolutely wild for them. It was so cool to watch them crawl inside the tubular flowers. Butterflies loved them too.
I made sure to deadhead the spent blooms to encourage more flowering. It seemed to work. And I let some of the seed pods mature so they could self-seed. Now I have foxgloves popping up all over the place! It’s a bit of a wild look, but I don’t mind.
One thing I did learn is that foxgloves are poisonous. So, I always wear gloves when I’m handling them, just to be safe. And I keep my pets away from them. Better safe than sorry, you know?
So, yeah, that’s my foxglove gardening story. It was a bit of a learning curve, but totally worth it. Those flowers are just stunning. I’d recommend giving them a try if you’re looking for something a little different in your garden.
