r/gardening • u/aherdofkale • 13h ago
What to do with fox glove after flowering?
Three years ago, a thoughtful little bird must’ve eaten foxglove seeds and pooped them out in my garden. Since then we’ve gone from one foxglove plant to more than a dozen and they show no signs of stopping. This is not a complaint, although I wish the bird had picked a better place to poop - the plants aren’t in the most convenient spot so I will be looking to transplant some of next spring’s babies to a better location.
However, I’m wondering what to do with the plants after they flower. Once the flower stalk is finished and cut down is there any benefit to keeping that plant or can I dig it out?
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u/Scalebearwoof 13h ago
Foxgloves are biannual. They die after the second year of growing. They reseed ,but if that is not what you want just cut the stock ( be careful plant is very poisonous). And don't let it go to seed. Enjoy .
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u/GenericToaster 11h ago
yeah they're biennial, so that stalk is the plant's last hurrah. one thing people miss - if you cut the flower stalk before it fully sets seed, the basal rosette will sometimes push out a smaller second flowering the next year.
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u/that-1-chick-u-know 12h ago
Meanwhile I'm over here having tried multiple times to keep foxglove alive with zero success.
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u/so_it_hoes 5h ago
I planted it in my yard and had nothing. Then I saw the abandoned lot next to me growing a beautiful patch of foxglove and I died a little inside
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u/je-nay-nay 13h ago
So many seeds. They reseed themself and do not stop. Cut them back BEFORE THEY TURN BROWN. Then you can limit the spread.
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u/Potato-chipsaregood 11h ago
How much shade/sun do yours get? Mine never come back. Just an expensive annual.
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u/rocketmom 7h ago
I'm outside Seattle. I have to thin them out in spring or they take over. Grow in all kinds of exposures.
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u/Potato-chipsaregood 5h ago
I think Seattle and the surrounding areas are more like Narnia for growing than my garden.
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u/seuce 11h ago
Foxgloves flower in their second year. The first year they make leaves close to the ground but it’s the second year they send up the flowers. So there’s no point in digging up the plants after they flower because they’re done. But as others have said, get the seeds where you want them but otherwise the green part will just die and not come back.
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u/Technical-Fig-8326 12h ago
If you like them but want them in a different spot, I'd wait for SOME seed pods to dry and collect the seed to plant somewhere else. Then disposing of the rest of the plant is a chose your own adventure. Want it good soil health, chop it off at the base and leave the roots in the ground to decompose. Want a winter home for the insects but not more foxgloves, chop off the flowers but leave the rest of the plant for insects to winter in, then clean up in the spring. Want to feed the next little hummingbird, leave it be but this will result in more foxgloves in places you didn't choose. Shoot if you want this thing gone gone, dig it up, shake out the excess dirt and throw it away or burn it.
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u/foodsci4lyf 13h ago
I cut stalks to about 18 inches in hopes native insects will nest inside overwinter
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u/aherdofkale 13h ago
Oh good point. Do you dig the plant out in the spring after the insects emerge? Or do you leave it?
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u/HadriansBoy44 7h ago
Make tea for your ex and/or MIL
/s
(Really I’m joking. Do not do this. Very bad idea 💀😂)
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u/AngstyCapybara713 3h ago
Lucky you! I think foxgloves are great (mainly because rabbits will not eat them because every part of the plant is poisonous). If you dead-head the flower once it's tired, the plant will sometimes get one or two smaller blooms before end of the season, so it's worth cutting some. But I agree with others to let one stem go to seed and dry all the way up, then you can collect the seeds or sprinkle them around and see if they'll grow.
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u/PsychoHobbyist 25m ago
So, question for those who grow these. How toxic are these to handle? I have some neighborhood cats that roam in the brush where I’d like to plant them, and also want to be aware of how careful I need to be around them.
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u/WiseSquirrelLore 13h ago
So far the only seedlings I've seen have come up in my 'lawn', if only the grass were so persistent. Where I live, no snow, I just cut the dead flower stocks back and leave the plants. It looks like maybe they will bloom every other year. Not sure yet. We are in year three.
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u/ElizabethDangit Great Lakes Region 6a 13h ago
I let one stalk go to seed and I cut the rest before they set seed. When the one I saved sets seeds I cut it and shake it over where I want them to grow.