After a fairly challenging day at work, my spirits were lifted when I returned home to find this lovely foxglove coming into flower by the pond. Foxgloves remind me so much of Cornish hedgerows in June, although this variety promises to be something a little bit different. The variety is Digitalis “Illumination Pink”, and a quick search on the Internet reveals it was named Chelsea Flower Show plant of the year 2012. It’s parentage includes Isoplexis, the Canary Island Foxglove, which lends this hybrid its fabulous tropical colouring – pink with a splash of palest orange in the throat. Being completely sterile, it won’t set seed. So, whilst I’ll have to wait until it clumps up before I can divide it, it will apparently flower for a longer period than a normal foxglove. Most foxgloves are biennial, but this is both hardy and a true perennial, so we can hopefully look forward to more flowers where these came from.
Categories: Plants