Foxglove 'Pam's Choice'

Heavenly, white floral bells with densely speckled throats of maroon-purple. Foxglove ‘Pam’s Choice’ holds the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit for its reliable garden performance and beauty.

The spires open strongly from late spring into summer, when beneficial insects flock to them. Beneath the flowers the foliage forms a tidy rosette at the base. The florets favour one side of the stem which makes them easy to use in arrangements. Use a knife when cutting the stem. Each plant produces up to five stems and maybe two or three more shorter ones.

These tall, showy, biennial plants are a striking addition to the garden because they add a nice element of vertical colour. Foxgloves, or Digitalis look best grouped toward the middle or back of a bed, where their tall blossoms will create moments of joy.

Foxglove blooms start to open at the bottom of the stalks and gradually move upward, providing fantastic, successive colour over the weeks. Once they have finished flowering they set seed and die, leaving the seed behind for future generations.

Plant Foxgloves into well drained soil, water in and keep moist in active growth. This short lived perennial sets viable seed which can be left to naturalise, or collected for sowing. They will flower from the seed in their second year.

Our tip – if you are keen to cut the flowers and want to get the best longevity, cut them in the morning, when the florets are one third to half open. Put them into water right away or they tend to wilt.

The individual flowers are about the size and shape of a thimble. Fairies are said to have sewn gloves for foxes from their petals, so they could sneak in and steal the chickens.