The perfect fit

Evoking old-fashioned storybook charm, foxgloves are at home in woodlands, hedgerows and cottage gardens. Their late spring or early summer appearance is appreciated for the naturalistic impact they bring, adding height and forming self-perpetuating colonies.

‘There is a foxglove for almost any part of your garden, from the woodland shade to the hot sunny border,’ explains Mary Baker, who, with husband Terry, holds the national collection of digitalis at their Botanic Nursery and Gardens in Wiltshire.

‘Foxgloves give that height required early in the season in the cottage garden or mixed border,’ explains Rosy Hardy of Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants in Hampshire.

Varieties of foxgloves

You are sure to know our pink, white or apricot varieties of native , which self-seed extensively, their spires of bell flowers swaying in the breeze popping up sometimes a bit too promiscuously in our gardens.