Pretty Tall Bloomers by G. Edwin Varner

Author:G. Edwin Varner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ebook on growing tall flowers, Tall growing garden flowers, Tall summer flowering perennials, Ebook on cottage garden flowers, Tall summer flowering annuals, Tall garden flowers that bloom all summer
Publisher: Green Thumb Publications
Published: 2020-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

Digitalis – Foxglove

Digitalis purpurea varieties

Fashionable foxes dress formally for a night of hunting.

When developing a vertically enhanced garden, I believe this hardy biennial or perennial (and its near relations) is probably the most beautiful garden flower. I know there are plenty of opposing viewpoints on other contenders, but the Digitalis tubular or funnel-shaped flowers dangling from their tall stalks look stunning.

It is not only their petal base-color, but the excessive spotting of contrasting colors within the blossoms (technically called nectar guides) gives them a technicolor brilliance unsurpassed by many other flowers.

It is positively mesmerizing to stare into blossoms and “get lost” amongst these vivid colors and speckled patterns.

Most Digitalis purpurea varieties can grow over six feet tall, but this depends on providing the best-growing conditions. They include being raised in a partly shady, well-drained, but moist, fertile soil. Probably the best variety to achieve this towering achievement is growing the Excelsior Group. This type provides plenty of pink, lavender, and white-based flowers, all having neon contrasting nectar guide spots. This variety is “the tops” in Digitalis enjoyment!

Although hardy from zones 4 to 8, and classified as a biennial, the purpurea species can be perennial if you snip the spent flower stalks off to prevent excessive seed formation. Producing many flowers and resultant seed pods by fall weakens each plant, which may not survive the winter. You will also have the chore of weeding-out unwanted seedlings in the spring. I guess beauty comes with a price of additional labor.

As with all species of Digitalis, these plants are very poisonous if eaten. All parts of the plant contain a chemical called digitalin. Cardiologists commonly use this compound to treat heart conditions, especially in controlling congestive heart failure. Isn’t it amazing that something so beautiful and deadly can also save lives?

One particular nagging question arises: what does the common name of “foxglove” mean? Ages ago, a myth originated in the rural English countryside where Digitalis grew abundantly in and around shady woodlands. Foxes would dig their dens underneath the evergreen leaves of extensive blooming areas of Digitalis. Before going on the hunt for prey, they would slip the tubular flowers onto their paws (as gloves) to silence their movement. Well, at least they were stylish while hunting.

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