Digitalis ferruginea 'Gigantea'
Rusty foxglove for a unique vertical accent
I can’t think of any other plant with such a narrow and tall silhouette as the rusty foxglove, Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gigantea’. A large part of its beauty comes from that gravity defying form. Tapering upwards little by little into an impossibly narrow spire.
The tiny spherical buds begin green, turning silver-cream before opening to tubular rusty orange petals with darker bronze veins. A shade of orange that is at one attention grabbing without distracting or changing the garden as bolder shades of orange can.
Self-seeding freely without becoming a problem, new seedlings will appear between autumn and spring. Look out for the small dark and smooth evergreen leaves, they can look a little like a plantain when tiny.
Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gigantea’ is a tough plant, its leaves able to withstand harsh frosts down to below -20C with ease. That tight rosette, growing no wider than 20-30cm will blanket the ground preventing other plants from growing in its spo…