foxgloves

Foxgloves are at their perfect best now. Foxgloves are native woodland plants. Their tall, pink flower stems are characteristic of our local woodlands. A bonus is that they tolerate the sandy Nottinghamshire soils.

When we visited Chelsea Flower Show, we were impressed by the quality and variety of foxgloves on show there.

But back on the allotment, our self-sown foxgloves impress me just as much. There seems to be an infinite range of pale yellow through to deep pink backgrounds, each with their own distinct patterning. And every individual plant is unique and deserves attention.

Foxgloves come in an

nual, biennial and perennial forms. The pictured one is a biennial kind.

Foxgloves are great allies to the wildlife gardener. Their vertical habit ensures that you get maximum impact in the minimum space. Bees in particular love foxgloves. They cross-pollinate the different plants and the amazing variety of flowers next year is all down to their hard work!

We let our foxgloves finish flowering and then leave the tall spikes so that the seed can mature. n high summer, the tiny black seeds spill onto the ground and become next years flowers.

To encourage their spread, we shake the seedhead spikes onto the soil in areas where we want foxgloves next year. Anywhere!

Although they don't take up a lot of space, I prefer them at the edge of our beds so take the chance to transplant any seedlings I see that will be in the way next year.