I have a question that's slightly off topic, but still foxglove related. This is only my second year growing them and they have been A great success this spring. I had just one flowering plant last year, but Started off many others from both bought foxglove seed and self collected seed from the one plant that I had. So back to this year And I have many more plants in flower, All flowers on these plants appeared purple / pink with some Slight variation in colour. (I thought that this variation may have been down to the different sources of seed I used). I then chose to add a Single white one to the mix this spring that I bought As a 9cm pot plant.
My question is, if I collect seed this year from the white plant will the produced offspring flower white, and if I collect seed from any of the pinks will I then get pink offspring? I am getting confused as to why the colour variation comes into play. Could somebody help me to understand This please?
I have a question that's slightly off topic, but still foxglove related. This is only my second year growing them and they have been A great success this spring. I had just one flowering plant last year, but Started off many others from both bought foxglove seed and self collected seed from the one plant that I had. So back to this year And I have many more plants in flower, All flowers on these plants appeared purple / pink with some Slight variation in colour. (I thought that this variation may have been down to the different sources of seed I used). I then chose to add a Single white one to the mix this spring that I bought As a 9cm pot plant.
My question is, if I collect seed this year from the white plant will the produced offspring flower white, and if I collect seed from any of the pinks will I then get pink offspring? I am getting confused as to why the colour variation comes into play. Could somebody help me to understand This please?
They get cross pollinated and so the colour isn't necessarily going to the same as the parent plant, rather the parent plant and other plant.
From what I've read the natural pink/purple is what dominates and the other colours are mutations on that, so pink is what you most often get.
I grew lots of foxgloves this year including the mentioned GW apricot and so far I've seen only one that I'd call apricot. Owing to the fact I grew mixed colours I am not sure of which were from that seed packet.
I've come to conclusion to just let foxglove do there own thing. I grew a number of Sutton apricot last year. That self seeded, this year I have mostly purple foxglove with the odd Apricot plant
Thankyou @Astro for explaining to me about the pink being the dominant colour. I am like @Jason-3 perfectly happy to let nature take its course regarding colour, but a few other plants other than pink / purple would be a nice bonus.
I still have no idea how the nursery managed to sell me a single white plant before it was in flower. Just pleased it did turn out to be white!
Thanks @FiddlingOn I have been really pleased this year. The photographs of mine do show my best plants however, I have others dotted around elsewhere that do not appear quite so "full" of flower. For example my best ones have the Bell shaped flowers stretching around the flower spike maybe 5 or 6 flowers wide. Others positioned elsewhere only managing 2 or 3 flowers wide. Would anyone know, or would like to guess why that is? I wasn't sure if it was down to the seed, the plant or its position within the garden. OR again, is it something that is beyond the gardeners control and something we have to embrace. It would be nice to get the fuller flower if possible though. 🙂
Its probably T&M. I ordered last February from the GW mag for delivery in April their summer bedding plants ( which had a free set of plants too) The free set came at the end of April, two weeks late, in poor condition, lost most of their compost in transit, and very small ( 36 plants in a 12" ×9" package) planted up immediately and lost two ( which I thought was quite a feat) they are now in the ground but not doing well. The ones I ordered ,due April 30th , still haven't come. But this morning a letter arrived to say they will be dispatched on the 15th June. If they are as small as the others, it will be to late to plant them!
I still have no idea how the nursery managed to sell me a single white plant before it was in flower. Just pleased it did turn out to be white!
I've wondered myself and thought their parent must just be self pollinated with other whites. Perhaps they grow them indoors or net them to stop bees pollinating them.
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So back to this year And I have many more plants in flower, All flowers on these plants appeared purple / pink with some Slight variation in colour. (I thought that this variation may have been down to the different sources of seed I used). I then chose to add a Single white one to the mix this spring that I bought As a 9cm pot plant.
My question is, if I collect seed this year from the white plant will the produced offspring flower white, and if I collect seed from any of the pinks will I then get pink offspring? I am getting confused as to why the colour variation comes into play. Could somebody help me to understand This please?
From what I've read the natural pink/purple is what dominates and the other colours are mutations on that, so pink is what you most often get.
I grew lots of foxgloves this year including the mentioned GW apricot and so far I've seen only one that I'd call apricot. Owing to the fact I grew mixed colours I am not sure of which were from that seed packet.
Does this happen a lot with foxglove seeds or could it be a case of Thompson & Morgan being typically poor?
I still have no idea how the nursery managed to sell me a single white plant before it was in flower. Just pleased it did turn out to be white!
Thanks @FiddlingOn I have been really pleased this year. The photographs of mine do show my best plants however, I have others dotted around elsewhere that do not appear quite so "full" of flower. For example my best ones have the Bell shaped flowers stretching around the flower spike maybe 5 or 6 flowers wide. Others positioned elsewhere only managing 2 or 3 flowers wide.
Would anyone know, or would like to guess why that is? I wasn't sure if it was down to the seed, the plant or its position within the garden. OR again, is it something that is beyond the gardeners control and something we have to embrace. It would be nice to get the fuller flower if possible though. 🙂