Propagation

• Foxgloves, particularly the sterile hybrids whose inflorescences naturally branch, can be propagated from 5cm ‘heel’ cuttings. Because you are rooting a potential flowering stem, it will try to produce flowers, so these should be pinched out as they form then the lower buds will form growth.

• Seeds can be sown at almost any time of year. Transplanted into pots, they are ideal for filling gaps in borders if sown from six to 12 months in advance. The best times to sow seed are January, for spring the following year, and late August, for a late-summer flowering.

• If you can leave plants to self-seed in borders you’ll find they have the knack of finding the perfect spot to bloom. In my garden, they have taken up residence at the base of a dark yew hedge. After flowering, remove the seedheads and scatter the seeds elsewhere in the garden or collect them in a paper bag for later sowing.

• Foxgloves hybridise so if you grow several selections you will end up

with unpredictable colouration unless groups are isolated from each other. Colour forms can be selected after germination, those with purple tints to the leaves will be purple, those without will usually be white. Seeds from the lower capsules on a spike are more ‘true to seed’.

• Divide sterile cultivars every two or three years, cut them back to ground level after flowering and divide when the new shoots appear.