A dramatic biennial that spends its first year as a low rosette of leaves, then sends up a towering 2–4 ft spire in year two, packed with pendulous, bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, pink, and purple with speckled throats. A classic cottage garden anchor that pollinators love. 

Use in the Landscape
A great vertical accent for borders, cottage gardens, or woodland edges — especially effective planted in front of dark backgrounds like shrubs or fencing, where the pale spires really pop. Best planted in groups of 3–4 for visual impact.

Use as a Cut Flower
A stunning, architectural addition to arrangements. Harvest when only the bottom third of florets on the spike have opened — the rest will continue opening in the vase over the following days. Cut in the cool morning before pollinators have visited, since a pollinated floret browns and drops quickly. Expect roughly a week of vase life.

Growing Conditions

• Light: Full sun to part shade
• Soil: Average, medium moisture, well-drained; prefers humus-rich, slightly acidic soil in part shade
• Irrigation: Regular water; soil should not be allowed to dry out
• Height: 2–4 feet (occasionally to 5')
• Spread: 1–2 feet
• Bloom Time: Late spring into early summer
• Fragrance: None notable
• Edible: No — all parts are toxic if ingested; the plant is the source of the heart medication digitalis. Safe to handle and touch, but keep away from pets and children who may put plants in their mouths.

Ongoing Care
Water regularly, especially through the first year while the rosette establishes. After flowering, plants often look scraggly — since they're biennial, many gardeners remove spent spikes once seed has dropped rather than let them linger. Leave a few spikes standing if you want the colony to self-seed and return year after year. Watch for powdery mildew and leaf spot in humid stretches, and keep an eye out for aphids and slugs.

Fun Facts
The individual flowers look like little fingertips of a glove — hence "foxglove" — and the genus name Digitalis comes from the Latin for "finger." Despite its toxicity, foxglove has a real medical legacy: it's the original plant source of digoxin, still used today to treat heart conditions.