How to Grow Foxgloves from Seed

Foxgloves (Digitalis) are easy to grow biennial or short-lived tender perennial flowers in shades of purple, pink, white, apricot and browns with semi-evergreen rosettes of basal foliage and upright spires of tubular bell-shaped blooms that usually appear between late spring and early summer. Most foxglove varieties are winter hardy to zone 4 or 5 and grow best in rich soil and dappled to semi-shade conditions, though they tolerate full-sun or shade. 

Their romantic whimsical shape and tendency to self-sow makes foxgloves well-suited to informal or naturalistic garden styles like cottage, woodland, or coastal. Their architectural spires work well when planted at the back of borders or as vertical punctuations towering above and between lower-growing plants. Foxgloves contrast nicely with round shaped flowers like roses, peonies or poppies. 

You may be able to find foxgloves as plug plants at local nurseries in early spring, but growing your own from seed will save you money and allow you to choose from a much wider range of foxglove varieties and species for your garden.

Choosing which Foxgloves to Grow

The biggest advantage to growing foxgloves from seed is the range of species and varieties you can choose from when you aren’t limited to the few foxglove varieties nurseries and big box stores tend to carry. There are many more species of foxgloves than are commonly grown in backyard gardens including some with unique bloom shapes, colors, markings and sizes. 

Biennials are plants with a two year growth cycle. Normally, they produce only foliage in their first growing season, then blooms in the second, at which point they set seed and die.

Not all foxglove varieties have the same growth pattern or life cycle. While some are biennial, others are short-lived perennials and others still have been bred to grow more like annuals. Knowing what type of foxglove you are growing is helpful for planning your seed starting as well as knowing when and for how long you can expect blooms.  

Biennial Foxgloves

Most foxgloves, including many varieties of the most commonly grown foxglove species - Digitalis purpurea - are biennials. This means they have a two year bloom cycle during which plants grown from seed produce foliage in their first season, overwinter, produce more foliage and blooms in their second season, then set seed and die. When you start biennial foxglove varieties from seed, don’t expect to see flowers until the following year. 

Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

The most commonly grown foxglove in backyard gardens and the one most people think of when they hear the word “foxglove.” Native to woodland areas of Western Europe, this purple, pink or white variety that can reach up to 6’ tall is well-suited to dappled or semi-shade and cooler climates.

All foxglove varieties are toxic to humans and animals. When starting foxgloves from seed indoors, take care to keep the seedlings out of reach of pets and children.

Rusty Foxglove (Digitalis ferruginea)

This Mediterranean foxglove species blooms later in the summer than the common foxglove and has unusual spiky evergreen foliage. Its extra tall, narrow and tightly-packed golden brown-colored bloom spikes give it a more whimsical or contemporary feel than the romantic shape and colors of the common foxglove. Rusty foxglove can be grown as a biennial or a short-lived perennial. 

First-Year-Flowering Biennial Foxgloves

Some biennial foxglove varieties have been bred to flower in their first year and are therefore sometimes referred to as first-year-flowering (FYF) varieties. These varieties are technically biennials but, if started early enough in the season, should bloom in their first year.

It should be noted, however, that winter survival can be poor for most FYF foxgloves. Therefore, depending on how harsh your winters are, you may need to treat these foxglove varieties more like annuals, sowing them fresh each year early in the season for flowers later that same year. 

Camelot Series Foxgloves

One of the most popular F1 hybrid series of first-year-flowering foxgloves, Camelots come in shades of pink, purple, lilac, white and cream speckled blooms that reach 3.5 to 4 feet tall. They are commonly sold in a mix, but you can also buy seed packets of each color separately if you’d like more control over your color scheme.  

Dalmatian Peach Foxgloves

Shorter and earlier to bloom than the camelot series, the dalmatian series is another FYF foxglove. This series contains all the standard foxglove colors as well as a unique peach variety that stands out for its unusual shades of apricot, peach and pink that form along the bloom spike in a gradient pattern.    

Perennial Foxgloves

Another category of foxglove species are those with the life cycle of a short-lived perennial. Plants in this category will usually come back every year reliably for about 3-5 years. Unlike the common foxglove, many of these species originate in harsher climates, making them more suited to dry and sunny locations. 

For more examples of perennial foxglove varieties you can grow in your garden, take a look at this article from The English Garden magazine.

Yellow Foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora)

A true perennial foxglove variety with extra-large buttery-yellow bell-shaped blooms and brown interior markings. They will form a large clump over time. Winter-hardy to zone 3.

Milk Chocolate Foxglove (Digitalis parviflora)

A foxglove species native to Northern and central Spain. A relatively short variety with narrow spires of small, densely-packed reddish-brown blooms. A true perennial that’s winter hardy down to zone 5. 

If you want to grow some of the more unusual foxglove varieties, try seed companies that specialize in perennials. I like Jelitto seeds, a German company that ships overseas, but Ferri Seeds in Canada, and J.L Hudson Seedsman in the US are other options for unusual or hard to find seeds.

Foxgloves are Self-Seeders

Whether you are growing biennial, first-year-flowering or short-lived perennial foxgloves, each individual foxglove plant will only live for about 1-5 years. However, because foxgloves readily self-sow, under the right conditions, you may end up with new foxglove plants coming up in your garden every year without having to start new plants.

Each bloom stalk of a foxglove plant contains thousands of tiny seeds that, if left to dry on the plant or “go to seed,” many of these seeds will fall to the ground and sow themselves, or “self-seed,” the following spring in the general location of the original plant. Depending on your garden style, this could be a good or a bad thing. 

If you want your Foxgloves to Self-Sow

Allowing your foxgloves to self-sow is a good way to fill space in your garden with very little effort on your part. Self-sown foxgloves don’t all come up at the same time, so you end up with staggered blooms throughout the season. Since you can’t determine exactly where or how many foxgloves will sow themselves, self-seeded foxgloves are especially suitable for informal, woodland or cottage-style gardens. 

To ensure your foxgloves self-sow: 

• You have to leave at least a few bloom stalks on the plant to dry - otherwise no seeds will develop at all.
• You will also need to leave some bare ground, free of mulch, around your foxgloves. You can mulch in early spring, some foxgloves will still find their way to the surface, but not nearly as many as if you leave the ground bare.
• Under the right conditions you may have hundreds of tiny foxgloves germinating in your garden. In this case, you will likely need to thin or dig out some of the small seedlings before they get too large and compete with one another for nutrients. 

In my experience, self-sown foxgloves from h1 hybrid varieties like the Camelot series aren’t quite as spectacular and uniform as the ones you grow from the seed packet. But this scrappy wild look could be exactly what you want in the right kind of garden. 

If you don't want your Foxgloves to Self-Sow

If you have more of a formal garden style or like to have more control over what plants grow where, deadhead your foxglove bloom spikes either just after they finish blooming or, if you like the look of the drying bloom spikes, later in the season before the seed pods are completely dry and the seeds inside them are fully formed. 

If you do end up with foxglove seedlings emerging in spring in places you don’t want them, you can either pull them up or move them in early spring to another location in your garden.

When to Start Foxgloves from Seed

The best time for you to start your Foxgloves indoors depends on the life-cycle of the variety you are growing as well as your growing zone. Finding the exact right time for your garden may take some trial and error. For a few general rules-of-thumb:

If you are growing first-year-flowering biennial foxgloves 

Start them extra-early in spring, at least 10-12 weeks before your last expected frost and transplant them out either a few weeks before or after your last spring frost date. This gives you the best chance of getting your foxgloves to bloom in their first season.

If you are growing biennial or short-lived perennial foxglove varieties:

You can be more flexible with the timing of your seed starting. You can start them in early spring as you would first-year-flowering foxgloves or you can wait and start them later in the season. This timing is better suited for cold climate gardens.

If you garden in an area with mild winters, you can also plant foxgloves in late summer. Aim to transplant fall foxglove seedlings outside no less than 6 weeks before your first expected fall frost to ensure they have enough time to establish themselves before winter. This means counting back 6-8 weeks from your first frost date to find your transplant date, and then counting back an additional 8-12 weeks to find the best time to start your seeds. 

What you Need to Grow Foxgloves from Seed

1. Foxglove seeds. 
2. A cell tray, a recycled shallow container, or 3/4 inch soil blocks. 
3. Seed starting or potting mix.
4. Label materials. 
5. A spray bottle filled with water.
6. A grow light. 

How to Grow Foxgloves from Seed

Foxgloves are toxic plants. To be on the safe side, wear gloves while handling foxglove seeds and seedlings and/or wash your hands immediately afterwards. 

1. When ready to start your seeds, fill a cell tray with seed starting mix. Press the soil down or tap the tray on a flat surface to settle the seed starting mix in the cells and fill again to the top. 
2. Sprinkle the foxglove seeds on the surface of the soil, aiming for just a few seeds in each cell. 
3. Press the seeds into the soil so they make good contact, but do not cover them with soil. Foxglove seeds need light to germinate. Gently mist the top of the soil with water. Optionally, sprinkle a thin layer of fine vermiculite over the seeds to help with moisture-retention and mist again.
4. Label the tray with the date and the names of the varieties you are growing. 
5. Cover the tray with a humidity dome or sheet of plastic wrap. This will help keep the seeds moist while you wait for germination.
6. Foxglove seeds germinate best in cool weather so, if possible, store your trays in a cool place - ideally somewhere around 10–15°C (50–60°F). Seeds should begin to germinate in 2-3 weeks. Make sure the soil in your trays stays consistently moist for this time period.
7. Once germination begins, remove the dome or plastic wrap and transfer your seed tray underneath a grow light. Position the light about 2 inches above the trays and keep them on for 12-14 hours a day.  
8. Foxglove seedlings start out very tiny. If more than one foxglove germinates in a single cell or soil block, thin them to one plant per cell as soon as the seedlings are large enough to work with.
9. Check on your seedlings regularly and bottom-water them when the top of the soil dries out. Once the seedlings have two sets of true leaves you can begin fertilizing them with a diluted liquid fertilizer, like fish or seaweed fertilizer, about once every two weeks.
10. Depending on the size of the cell trays or pots you used to start the seeds, you may need to pot them out of the small cells and into larger pots sometime before they are ready to be transplanted. 
11. You can transplant your foxglove seedlings outside anytime after 2 weeks before your last spring frost date. Harden off your seedlings before transplanting and, if you plant them before your last frost date, be prepared to provide them with some protection should the weather be unexpectedly cold. 

Sowing Foxgloves "The Easy Way" 

It is also possible to direct sow foxglove seeds either in the fall or early spring by broadcasting the seeds over open soil in the areas of your garden you would like foxgloves to grow. Because this method requires no supplies and very little time, it can be an easy way to start some foxglove plants.

However, direct sowing flower seeds is not a very reliable method. Direct sowing can have a low success rate, especially if your garden is located in a cold area or situated on a windy site. 

While this might be fine if you have thousands of seeds saved up from previous years, I don’t recommend direct-sowing foxgloves when you have a packet or two of special or unusual perennial varieties you really want to grow. Starting these indoors allows you to control all the variables and increases your chances of having a good number of foxgloves to plant out.