Types Of Foxgloves

Check a flower identification guide to help you recognize the different species of foxgloves.

Look for foxgloves that flower throughout the entire summer season and grow wild in the English countryside or the North American woods.

Identify the most common foxglove, biennial Digitalis purpurea, which grows to a height of about five feet. Its leaves are lance-shaped, about 1 foot long and grow in an alternating pattern. The flower of Digitalis purpurea is bell-shaped and grows in a tall, stiff cluster. The flowers are usually a pinkish-lavender, white or a deep purple color with purple spots on the inside of the bloom.

Search for Digitalis grandiflora, or the large yellow foxglove that grows wild in the woods and mountains.

Examine the plant, which is smaller than Digitalis purpurea, measuring only about 3 feet tall. It has pleated leaves and yellow, cup-shaped flowers that come to several points at the edge, with purple spots inside the cup.

Look for the exotic Grecian foxglove or Digitalis lanata, which grows wild throughout Bulgaria, Turkey and the Balkans. This beauty grows to about 5 feet tall, but the flowers are different from those of other species, looking almost like orchids or Jack-in-the-pulpit flowers. They have rounded cups with a long, pointed tongue extending from the bottom edge. Their flowers are purple and ochre with white tongues.

Cultivate your own foxglove plants from cultivars created by crossing various wild plants. Digitalis purpurea "Camelot" is one cultivar with numerous colors, including cream, lavender, rose and white.

Choose from miniature cultivars such as Digitalis purpurea "Dwarf Sensation" to giant plants like Digitalis purpurea "Giant Shirley."

Plant seeds in rich, dark soil in partial sun. Allow the seeds to self-sow after flowering if you want to cultivate them year after year.