Foxglove problem

pippataylor294 · August 2020

I planted a young foxglove taken from my mums garden after she passed away. It's about 2 feet tall and the top half of the stem has gone brown. The bottom of the plant has lots of new leaves. Is there something wrong with it?

Fairygirl · August 2020

Hi @pippataylor294 - do you have a photo?
It sounds like the bit that is brown is just where the flowering stem has finished, and is now dying back. That's perfectly normal, as is more new leaves.

If you've just dug it up and planted it quite recently, that would be normal too, as plants try to preserve themselves when newly moved, and they often do that by saving as much foliage as they can, at the expense of other parts of the plant. The bits furthest from the roots will therefore struggle to thrive. It mostly happens when they're short of water, which is quite common at this time of year.

Wrigs21 · August 2020

Those brown bits are full of seeds. They will disburse and come again

Dovefromabove · August 2020

Foxglove plants usually die after they’ve flowered. But all is not lost ... when the seed pods are brown and crisp and beginning to crack open you can waft it around the the flower beds ... the seeds will germinate soon and you’ll get lots of baby plants ... thin them out ... you can replant the thinnings as well, and next year you’ll have a garden full of your mum’s foxgloves 😊

Lots of info here

https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/143708/self-seeding-foxglove

and here

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-collect-and-sow-foxglove-seed/

Hope that helps 😊

Fairygirl · August 2020

I think we need to determine if the brown bit is the old stem/seedhead first @Wrigs21

Dovefromabove · August 2020

Fairygirl said:

I think we need to determine if the brown bit is the old stem/seedhead first @Wrigs21

Very true @Fairygirl
... but at this time of year that’s the stage all mine are at now ... at least fiwn here in the southeast-ish.

😊

pippataylor294 · August 2020

Not old enough to have flowered yet. Brown stem from top to halfway down

Astro · August 2020

I think it looks like it has flowered and the seed heads have gone already. The plant is just putting out some new foliage that tend to produce some smaller flower spikes.

Fairygirl · August 2020

That's great - nothing to worry about though. You can just remove that dead part if you want, back to any greenery, but it isn't a problem if you leave it in place.

Foxglove problem

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