Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Is DIGITALIS x valinii 'Firebird' sterile or will it set seed?

kenneth.green2009kenneth.green2009 Posts: 10
in Plants
Hi gang

Does anyone know if DIGITALIS x valinii 'Firebird' sterile or will it set seed?

I seem to find conflicting reports via google

I managed to buy the last one at a local Garden Center a month ago and its a stunning Foxglove so I'd like to propagate it if I can (for personal use).
«1

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    It is sterile.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    There must be a way to propagate sterile foxgloves? I have one hybrid that doesn’t produce seeds, but I would like to propagate it. How do plant producers do that? 
    Surrey
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Maybe it is done by division ?  
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    They are "artificial" hybrids, they would not occur naturally.
    Division might work.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    Thank you @AnniD and @punkdoc - keep waiting for a second stem to appear. I think it’s needed for division. But it keeps growing as a one-stem plant. Was hoping there is a way to just take cuttings like for example with lavender. Maybe I should wait longer, the summer has only just started...
    Surrey
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I have done a bit of a search, and the suggestion is, they may be divided in the Spring.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    When this question was raised a couple of months ago, the RHS said it freely self seeds, I see they have now removed that bit from the description however I have so read...

    “Digitalis x valinii ‘Firebird’ sometimes grows as a short lived perennial, other times this plant is even shorter lived, it can grow as a biennial – when the plant dies after flowering.  I’m told that Digitalis x valinii‘Firebird’ is like other foxgloves, in that it self seeds freely.  So, if you like Digitalis x valinii ‘Firebird’, leave your flowers to die back and allow them to self-seed around your garden.” 

    So, if you get seeds on it, it’s probably worth a try, as the plant is new, no one is going to reveal that it can be grown from seeds yet. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I suspect it is micropropagated. Fine for a  lab to produce thousand of tiny seedlings, but way beyond the home gardener.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    Maybe it seeds but it won't seed true, hybrids don't


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    According to the breeders, it is a sterile hybrid.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Sign In or Register to comment.