This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Foxgloves (Wild)

Wild Foxglove have self seeded throughout the garden. Each year there seem to be more and more of them. They go nicely with my other cottage garden style plants (delphinium, lupin, aquilegia) although sometimes they look a bit messy scattered about. I like the spots inside the flowers - maybe the best part!

Left: Foxglove mixed in with lupin.

They provide lots of 'free' flowers, and easy to pull out if they come up somewhere you don't want them.

Last year I had white foxglove but this year they all seem to be shades of pink.



17 comments:

  1. I just love your foxgloves; they add so much to the country cottage garden. Wish I could have them here, but it is way too tropical, I think, for them!

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  2. Wow - these are so beautiful. You are lucky they reseed so readily!

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  3. I didn't know that foxglove only bloomed every other year..maybe that is why your getting new colors this year? Luv your photo's you've captured the speckles nicely.

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  4. I've never grown foxgloves, but I am going to attempt to this summer, have seeds in the greenhouse. They are beautiful flowers.

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  5. I love foxgloves, and so do the bees. I've got a couple in my garden this year which have self seeded. They're the same colour as yours.

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  6. Very lovely. Wonderful that they self-seeded every year for you. I sowed some seedlings in March. They are growing so so so slowly. I am not sure whether it will flower for us or not in spring.

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  7. Hi Kelly,
    Very nice pictures of your foxglove.
    I have them in the garden too.
    I find it a beautiful flower ... and it fits very well in a cottage garden.
    Lovely greetings, Elly

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  8. I tried some "cultivated" Foxgloves once, but they were disappointing. Somehow it didn't seems right to have yellow ones and light pink ones. For me, a "real" Foxglove has to be deep purple on the outside with dark black mottling on the inside. Yes, I know I am being unreasonable!

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  9. I have some volunteer Foxglove and I think they look beautiful...just keep the chickens and kids away and it's all good!
    We've had tons of rain this year in Washington State and I haven't seen that many this year.

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  10. I love your foxglove. I loved seeing them along the roadside in the English countryside as I toured the country in a tour bus full of university students. While they slept, I oooed and awed at the beauty of the countryside. Did the same when we took a group to Ireland. I bought fox glove last week at the garden center. I have 3. One is blooming and is a glorious foot high. Sweet for Northern Colorado. Hopefully they will return next year--assuming that they survive the summer heat. Yours are gorgeous. I love your cottage garden.

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  11. Your blog got me thinking. I found some interesting information.

    Organic Gardens

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  12. The Foxgloves are in bloom in our backyard as well. I think they just might be my favorite flower of summer.

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  13. My involuntary foxgloves fizzled out on short stems this year so it was lovely to see your long necked ones popping up everywhere. Am growing a new batch as no garden is imcomplete without them. Very nice view of the garden in last image

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  14. Hi Kelli I have been checking out your blog and garden it is lovely love your page on edible flowers.

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  15. Hi Kellee,foxgloves grow wild around here so I never considered them for my garden!The same with the yellow Crocosimia (monbretia)it grows wild in the ditches around West Cork.
    Guinness is a bit too expensive to be feeding to the slugs, I go to one of the discount stores and get their cheap beer (akin to paint stripper)!

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  16. These photos are GORGEOUS! The foxgloves are beautiful, I noticed lots of them in the Antrim glens. So gorgeous this country you live in!

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