Description
D. purpurea – Common Foxglove – This upright, rosette forming, very variable, hairy biennial or short lived perennial from Southwestern and Western Central Europe grows 3-6′ feet tall and 2′ feet wide. It produces ovate to lance shaped, usually toothed, deep green, sometimes white woolly leaves, 4-10″ long. In early summer it bears tall, one sided spikes of purple, pink, pale yellow or white flowers, to 2 ½” long, spotted maroon to purple inside.
Grow in almost any soil and situation, except very wet or very dry soil, most prefer humus rich soil in partial shade. Divide in spring or autumn. They self seed readily. Cut flowering stems down to the ground after spring flowering to encourage secondary spikes.
zones 4-8
