Foxglove, like so many plants and people, have a mixed reputation. I grew up seeing them growing wild in various settings and in gardens and I’ve always liked them. I’ve grown them from seed in various varieties and species, too, but they haven’t really taken hold here in the garden.
I started seedlings two years ago, though, from a mix bought from Chiltern’s in the UK. I planted them among the bulbs in the memory garden thinking they would be the second act after the tulips and hyacinths finish. For once, I didn’t get that wrong. They are blooming now and they are SPECTACULAR!
There are myriad other blooming beauties in the garden and greenhouse right now.
Vancouveria (Inside-Out Flower)These Tulipa turkestanica seed pods are almost as beautiful as the flowers. I wonder if I’ll get seeds/seedlings?Neon color clash–Dianthus and Heuchera fighting it out in the memory garden.Maybe Dianthus “Zing Rose”–I don’t remember buying these but I’m glad they got added to the memory garden–they really shine.Gorgeous cactus blooming in the greenhouse. Maybe a Lobivia?Geranium pratense–really putting on a show.The flowers are a nice size and color.Eryngium blooming for the first time. This is supposed to be a very blue seed strain, but I don’t see any blue yet. Oriental poppy in a nice pink shade. Several of the seedlings I put in the memory garden bloomed this year and are pink varieties.Erigeron, Santa Barbara Daisy, blooming in the memory garden. They seem very perennial there, likely due to the excellent drainage.Abutilon vitifolium blooming on the south side of the house. This is a white seedling–about five years old, that is as bushy a shrub as I’ve ever seen from this variety.I found this late bloomer on a shelf in the greenhouse today as I was migrating the Clivia and Cymbidium plants to the native plant garden.There are over forty Clivias and about ten Cymbidiums that migrated from the greenhouse to the garden today. This was a late migration but I’m happy I got it done–these plants need to be gone over, repotted and fertilized in the next month or two. They will enjoy four-five months outside under the Douglas fir.
