I have just sown my canturbury bells, fox and lupins for next year, no need to soak first, just pop in a module, they will all come up, tough they are. I will pot on probably twice and plant out next spring.
I grew the apricot foxgloves last year from seeds, cos they were free in the mag, but next year I will expect them to be wild pink colour.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
SweetPea, foxgloves are biennials: sow the seed now and they'll just make leaves & roots this year, then they'll flower next year. Once they're there they'll self seed and you'll have them for ever, conditions permitting (they're OK in shade so that could be useful). Bees love them.
I sowed Foxglove seeds in cell trays round about the beginning of May.I did start mine in a basic non heated propagator but I'm not sure the lid was necessary *nods in nut's direction* The info I read said not to cover the Foxglove seeds with compost but just press them very lightly into the surface because they need light to germinate.Also to water them,use a light spray (like a washed out febreeze bottle). My seedlings are around an inch high now.
Foxgloves are especially easy. I've got loads of white/pink ones I started from seed last year - I've been giving them away I've grown that many!
Here's what I did....
1 - Got the seed in late summer and sowed very thinly (it's tiny seed) into an old long vertical planter. I didn't even bother putting fresh compost or anything in there - just whatever was in there.
2 - Put the planter somewhere out of site in a shady corner of the garden
3 - Forgot about it till late March, then picked out the best looking ones and potted them on. Just left them in the same out of sight corner.
4 - Early May I planted them in the final location in the ground. If you leave some in their pots for a bit longer it seems to hold them back and you can then stagger planting for a longer display.
I echo what fidgetbones says. There was a chap on GW and he had the national collection ( I think ) of Digitalis. He said if there's even a hint of colour, other than pure green, they'll be purple. Only the pure green seedlings will be white.
I've been ruthless this spring and have only left the pure green seedlings. 100% white flowers .
Posts
I find foxgloves with green leaves produce pale or white or apricot flowers. Foxgloves with a deep red streak up the leaf stem produce purple flowers.
I have morello cherry lupins and yellow ones growing from named seed. One seed to a 3 inch pot. Soaking not necessary.
In the sticks near Peterborough
oooh foxgloves can still be sown? I would quite like some down at the lottie, down the bottom in my 'wildlife' bit. So much to learn!
I have just sown my canturbury bells, fox and lupins for next year, no need to soak first, just pop in a module, they will all come up, tough they are. I will pot on probably twice and plant out next spring.
I grew the apricot foxgloves last year from seeds, cos they were free in the mag, but next year I will expect them to be wild pink colour.
SweetPea, foxgloves are biennials: sow the seed now and they'll just make leaves & roots this year, then they'll flower next year. Once they're there they'll self seed and you'll have them for ever, conditions permitting (they're OK in shade so that could be useful). Bees love them.
I sowed Foxglove seeds in cell trays round about the beginning of May.I did start mine in a basic non heated propagator but I'm not sure the lid was necessary *nods in nut's direction*
The info I read said not to cover the Foxglove seeds with compost but just press them very lightly into the surface because they need light to germinate.Also to water them,use a light spray (like a washed out febreeze bottle). My seedlings are around an inch high now.
Lupins though I know nothing about.
I have just sown some white foxglove seeds as most of the ones in my garden now are pink. I would like to track down some yellow seed ............
Pleny on ebay.
Foxgloves are especially easy. I've got loads of white/pink ones I started from seed last year - I've been giving them away I've grown that many!
Here's what I did....
1 - Got the seed in late summer and sowed very thinly (it's tiny seed) into an old long vertical planter. I didn't even bother putting fresh compost or anything in there - just whatever was in there.
2 - Put the planter somewhere out of site in a shady corner of the garden
3 - Forgot about it till late March, then picked out the best looking ones and potted them on. Just left them in the same out of sight corner.
4 - Early May I planted them in the final location in the ground. If you leave some in their pots for a bit longer it seems to hold them back and you can then stagger planting for a longer display.
I echo what fidgetbones says. There was a chap on GW and he had the national collection ( I think ) of Digitalis. He said if there's even a hint of colour, other than pure green, they'll be purple. Only the pure green seedlings will be white.
I've been ruthless this spring and have only left the pure green seedlings. 100% white flowers .