Dalmatian Purple Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea ‘Dalmatian Purple’)
A Totally Tubular Selection
- Hardiness Range: 4-8
- Height: 3 feet
- Spread: 2 feet
- Exposure: Full to Part Sun
Why We Love It:
This plant’s tall spikes rise above those around it showing off it’s exciting purple tubular flowers with white interiors and dark purple spots. From late spring to mid summer, its pointy leaves remain green in color and can be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition. It is also a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard!
Know Before You Plant:
This plant is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer tend to find it not very tasty allowing for it to grow better in Waukesha. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. It grows at a fast rate, and tends to be biennial, meaning that it puts on vegetative growth the first year, flowers the second, and then dies. However, the Dalmatian Purple Foxgloves tends to self-seed!
Where It Thrives:
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade, but will not tolerate standing water. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown this winter when it may not be readily seen! With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a ‘thriller’ in the ‘spiller-thriller-filler’ container combination.
