Plant · P-005

Foxgloves

Digitalis purpurea

A tall, spire-forming biennial that spends its first year as a low rosette of soft, hairy leaves before sending up a two- to five-foot flowering stalk in its second year. Tubular, drooping, strawberry-pink, white or purple blooms line one side of the spike from late spring into summer and are worked heavily by bees. Every part of the plant contains potent cardiac glycosides and is severely toxic if eaten, with a narrow margin between a therapeutic and a lethal dose. It self-sows freely once established, growing best in full sun to part shade on moist, organically rich, well-drained ground that leans acidic to neutral.