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Perennial Foxglove leaves are yellowing from the bottom up

dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
in Plants
The plants are yet to flower and otherwise seem in good health, I'm just wondering if it's normal for the lower leaves to go yellow at this stage?
Thanks!

Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Yes, it’s quite normal, I remove the worst ones.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    Which Foxgloves have you got?


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
    I managed to find the label: "Digitalis Purpurea F1 Dalmatian Cream Hardy Perennial". I've only just read the next line: "Uniform biannual...". What does that mean? It comes back every second year indefinitely ? :D
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Debatable whether they are really perennial, short lived at best.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    dangermousie said:
    I managed to find the label: "Digitalis Purpurea F1 Dalmatian Cream Hardy Perennial". I've only just read the next line: "Uniform biannual...". What does that mean? It comes back every second year indefinitely ? :D
    Digitalis purpurea is standard Foxglove,  a version of it. I assume by biannual they mean biennial. Uniform suggests they may all be the same. Biennial means germinate one year, flower the next, more or less what you'd expect from the species but as @punkdoc says above debatable re perennial. scrawny looking things if they come back at all


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    There is a difference between biennial and biannual.  "Uniform biannual" sounds like some military reunion.  If from The Netherlands, they usually are better at English than most nurserymen Brits.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    They'll probably set seed and then die. I've noticed that the ones that lose the basal growth quite early are the ones that put all their energy into flowering/seed production and then die, while the ones that produce more leaves at the base (sometimes forming side-rosettes) tend to come back the following year but with smaller flower spikes. It doesn't seem to be variety-specific though. If you let them self-seed or collect and sow the seed you should get more plants but they might not be the same as the parent.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
    Thanks all, you're making a lot of sense there. :) Interesting stuff!
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Would you like to explain that difference, @bede?
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
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