A page of all of our Foxgloves so that you can see the variety this Genus covers, from the big to the small – in essence from least like a native Foxglove to varieties of our native Foxglove. To see more of the Foxglove’s relatives click below

Lamiales Order

. All the entries link back to the appropriate item in our online shop.

Digitalis parviflora 'Milk Chocolate'

Digitalis parviflora ‘Milk Chocolate’

Digitalis parviflora ‘Milk Chocolate’

  • Digitalis parviflora ‘Milk Chocolate’. Thin spikes, densely crowded with small bronze-red foxglove flowers make for a striking addition to any planting. 60 cm high, July to September. Similar to a smaller Digitalis ferruginea, but with paler and slightly less even leaf rosettes. For an unusual combination try it with Allium caeruleum
Digitalis lutea (eriostachya)

Digitalis lutea (eriostachya)

Digitalis lutea (eriostachya)

  • A dainty, shortish perennials foxglove with spires crowded down one side with tiny bells of soft creamy primrose. Much overlooked by the seed merchants who hail the biggest blousiest and downright deformed. This is a plant that cottage gardens were made for and has special memories for me as it was at home in my late Mum’s pretty flower garden. It stands 60cm high and flowers continuously from June to August. Evergreen and mostly perennial. One of the parents of Digitalis ‘Glory of Roundway’. S.Europe and N. Africa.

Digitalis grandiflora (ambigua, orientalis)

Digitalis grandiflora (ambigua, orientalis)

Digitalis grandiflora (ambigua, orientalis)

  • Broad rosettes of leathery evergreen leaves give rise to several relatively stout stems to 60cm clothed with broad yellow bells with throats intricately netted in brown. Plants are perennials and can live several years before dying out. This foxglove comes from Southern Europe through to Asia and as a consequence is tolerant of more sun than other species, however it will be perfectly happy in partial shade. This is a plant that has a long history of cultivation having been originally introduced into Britain from Greece in 1596. It is a cottage garden favourite where the soft yellow tones well with other pastel shades. It has become naturalised in parts of Asia, including Kashmir.

Digitalis ferrunginea

Digitalis ferrunginea

Digitalis ferruginea

  • Digitalis ferruginea . Immaculate evergreen glossy rosettes of long, narrow dark green leaves are a feature all year. The flowers spikes are tall, stiff and densely crowded with charming ochre, yellow-lipped flowers arranged all around the stem in perfect regularity. 4ft CAUTION- TOXIC IF EATEN

Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gelber Herold’

Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gelber Herold’

  • Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gelber Herold’ (Yellow Herald) . Immaculate evergreen glossy rosettes of long, narrow dark green leaves are a feature all year. The flowers spikes are tall, stiff and densely crowded with charming ochre, yellow-lipped flowers arranged all around the stem in perfect regularity. More yellow in the flowers than the species. 4ft

Digitalis lanata - (Cafe Creme) - Woolly Foxglove

Digitalis lanata – (Cafe Creme) – Woolly Foxglove

Digitalis lanata – (Cafe Creme) – Woolly Foxglove

  • Digitalis lanata – (Cafe Creme) – Woolly Foxglove. One of the more unusual foxgloves, mabe not instantly recognisable as such. The flowers are carried in a typical foxglove spike, but instead of the usual hanging bells, each flower is very rounded, white with dense brown netting, a broad white lip and a glowing yellow inside. They are reminiscent of a column of curious, comical, gaping mouths. A reasonably perennial species. Light shade 60 cm  CAUTION- TOXIC IF EATEN
Digitalis 'Spice Island'

Digitalis ‘Spice Island’

Digitalis ‘Spice Island’

  • Digitalis ‘Spice Island’. A new variety with much to recommend it. The flower spikes are long and narrow carrying flowers that open rich yellows form green buds. Each flower is warm sunshine yellow, stained on the outside with cinnamon and spotted on the lip the same. Repeat flowering and long lived.
Digitalis 'Glory of Roundway'

Digitalis ‘Glory of Roundway’

Digitalis  ‘Glory of Roundway’ 

  • Digitalis  ‘Glory of Roundway’ – Foxglove. A charming cottage garden plant with slender spikes of small strawberry pink foxglove flowers which are pale yellow inside. Inherits its slender flowers and habit from Digitalis lutea, along with a perennial nature, and pink shading from its other parent Digitalis purpurea. Long flowering season. Evergreen foliage. Perennial
Digitalis 'Illumination Pink'

Digitalis ‘Illumination Pink’

Digitalis ‘Illumination Pink’

  • Digitalis ‘Illumination Pink’. A beautiful new foxglove with almost tropical looking trumpets the colour of crushed strawberries on the outside, warm glowing yellow, finely spotted orange within. The flowering spikes branch as the season progresses, prolonging the flowering season considerably. A perennial variety
Digitalis x mertonensis (Summer King)

Digitalis x mertonensis (Summer King)

Digitalis x mertonensis (Summer King)

  • Digitalis x mertonensis (Summer King) A hybrid between our native foxglove and the yellow perennial D.ambigua, Digitalis x mertonensis inherits the best of both parents. It benefits from D.ambigua’s perennial nature whilst gaining colour and the shapely flower spikes of D.purpurea.  The whole plant is of a denser nature tahn D.purpurea with shorter, stouter spires of chunkier flowers in teh most beguiling crushed starwberry pink, generously but subtly spotted within. Flowers the early summer months. 90cm. CAUTION- TOXIC IF EATEN
Digitalis purpurea 'Excelsior Hybrid'

Digitalis purpurea ‘Excelsior Hybrid’

Digitalis purpurea ‘Excelsior Hybrids’

  • Digitalis purpurea ‘Excelsior Hybrids’. Digitalis purpurea ‘Excelsior Hybrids’ is a name used to encompass a mixture of improved forms of our native foxglove. The flowers range in colour from whites through pale and dark pinks, most being spotted. They all carry larger blooms in more even fatter spikes making them a very showy addition to any planting scheme. easy. sun/shade. Biennial. CAUTION- TOXIC IF EATEN
Digitalis purpurea 'Pam's Choice'

Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’

Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’

  • Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’. This foxglove always catches peoples attention. Its form is typical with tall spires hung with flared bells, but the colouring is most striking. The flower is a nice clean white, but inside it is so heavily spotted in a rich maroon that the spots merge to fill the throat. The leaves are narrow and tend to a grey green. 120cm high. June to August. 120cm high. June to August
Digitalis purpurea 'Snow Thimble'

Digitalis purpurea ‘Snow Thimble’

Digitalis purpurea ‘Snow Thimble’

  • Digitalis purpurea ‘Snow Thimble’. Digitalis purpurea ‘Snow Thimble’ is the variety of foxglove you want if you are looking for pure refined elegance. The flower spikes are well formed with large hanging bells of pure white, spotted delicately chartreuse in the throat. To add to this the spire blends from green at the tip through palest lemon buds into the pure white fully opened bell. A plant of great distinction. Very good in woodland situations. CAUTION- TOXIC IF EATEN
Digitalis purpurea 'Suttons Apricot'

Digitalis purpurea ‘Suttons Apricot’

Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’

  • Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’ is the much prized apricot strain of our native foxglove. It is sought after for its improved flower form and unusual, warm apricot shades which grade from the rosier pinks of the buds down to the more pastel shades of the mature blooms. Altogether a plant of most refined beauty. height 5ft. Dappled shade   CAUTION- TOXIC IF EATEN

Foxgloves fall into two groups, the biennial and the perennial. Biennial foxgloves produce a dense rosette of leaves in the first year which then throw one or more flowering spikes in the second year. This exhausts the plant which then usually (but not always) dies. perennial foxgloves go on to produce flowers year upon year. Digitalis purpurea belongs to the biennial group.

Foxgloves flower in succession up the flowering spike. the spikes are at their very best in late June, but continue for many weeks after that. The flowers, which last about 6 days each, are a favourite of bees. Other insects often shelter in the bells overnight or during bad weather.

Medicines now derived from the foxglove are stalwarts for treating heart conditions, though these properties took herbalists a long time to work out, it being previously recommended for condition where its use today would be considered highly suspect.

The common foxgove is widely distributed, being found especially in woods and along country lanes. It flourishes best on silicaceous soils, well aerated and with light shade, and thrives in loam. Despite this it needs very little soil to grow, often springing up in the cracks in granite walls. It grows throughout Europe, but is absent most notably on some calcareous (chalky) districts. The naturalist William Turner (1548) noted that it grows freely around rabbit holes.

Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’ (Foxglove, Witches’ Gloves, Dead Men’s Bells, Fairy’s Glove, Gloves of Our Lady, Bloody Fingers, Virgin’s Glove, Fairy Caps, Folk’s Glove, Fairy Thimbles, Cowflops). the name Foxglove is a corruption of folk’s glove or glove of the good folk (Fairies), and seems to have been round a long time, the earliest mention being the Anglo Saxon name ‘foxes glofa’ – (glove of the fox). The spots are sometimes seen as the markes left by elven fingers, possibly to act as a warning of the plants poisons. The Norwegian’s also alude to the fox in their name ‘Revbielde (Foxbell).

Digitalis  (Plantaginaceae)