folk's gloves

what a stunning creature.  I've tried to germinate foxgloves for a few years now with no luck, but this year I managed to make a bucket of seedlings. Then I rewarded myself with the purchase of this fine specimen

towering over some lesser foxgloves. The big one is up to my shoulder now. 

the girls

foxgloves are also knowns as digitalis, and all parts of the plant contain digitoxin. Most animals know to avoid them, but humans used it to make heart medication and/or poison.

germination seems to involve leaving the seeds in the cold for some time and then warming them up. Nothing happened for a few weeks until I put them outside for a week and then brought them back in. Foxglove seeds normally fall to the soil at the end of summer and lay dormant until early spring, like most plants, but it seems like they need a cold period to germinate. Maybe it's because the fallen seeds would germinate in the mild temperatures of September otherwise, and this is their way of making sure they wait until april. I think it's interesting that the irreversible lifecycle changes a plant goes through: germination & flowering, are governed by the same set of genes, which inhibit the plant if its too cold or if the conditions are otherwise sub-optimal.  Flowering came first in plant evolution, and then when seeds came along they just used the same genes to make sure the environment was perfect before risking coming to life. 

foxgloves for next year in some amended soil. They like to live on rocky outcroppings or at the edge of forests- rich, soft, well drained soil. pretty much the opposite of what I naturally have in my yard. So I dug out about a foot of topsoil and mixed in a lot of peat moss. The soil smelled rotten when I first pulled it up, a sign of poor drainage and lack of oxygen.