Digitalis lanata Café Crème Seeds - Foxglove

Digitalis lanata Café Crème, a pretty descendant of the woolly foxglove, is a spectacular looking plant, but paradoxically bears rather discreet blooms in muted tones that should be showcased in the garden. This sometimes biennial, sometimes perennial plant is fabulous when in summer, it sets up its stocky spikes set with curiously coloured, globular flowers in shades of pearl grey, coffee brown and purple. Less demanding in terms of soil and humidity than the traditional foxglove of our woodland edges, this plant will make do with any ordinary soil; even chalky and occasionally dry soils. It will flourish in sunny or partially shaded borders and beds.

Digitale Café Crème is a cultivar of Digitalis lanata, a plant of the family Scrophulariaceae, native to Italy, Hungary, Turkey and the Balkans. It has become naturalized in different regions of North America and Europe, including France. Because this plant is so widespread in the mountains of Greece, English speakers call this plant 'Grecian foxglove'. It can be found in bushes, woodland and grassy areas, typically in sunny to partially shaded areas. It is a biennial and sometimes perennial herbaceous plant, developing from spring onwards, a large, evergreen rosette 30-40 cm in diameter, with simple, hairy, lanceolate, deeply veined, dark green leaves. Depending on the time of sowing, the plant will produce in its second year, from June to August, tall, sturdy, almost black-purple, woolly-looking flower spikes reaching a height of 60-80 cm. The first third of the stem is covered with small leaves while the tips bear numerous, densely clustered flowers. Each flower is made up of a reddish, downy calyx that unfolds a corolla in the form of a bulging tube with wavy edges which extends into a light, pearl grey lip with purple veins. The throat of the flower is yellowish with purple veins and the outside is coffee brown tinted with bronze and mauve. They bloom along the spike starting from the bottom and for a period of 2 to 3 weeks. Each flower hosts a procession of bees and bumblebees, ceaselessly coming to stock up on nectar and pollen. After pollination, capsules (fruit) containing numerous seeds are produced which spontaneously re-seed in the garden, in light soil. It will act more like a perennial if care is taken to prune the flowers before the seeds form.

Install Foxglove Café Crème in the sun or partial shade, in ordinary soil that is not too dry, even in limestone soils. It goes well with pastel coloured roses, bear’s breeches, perennials with small blue flowers such as Geranium or perennial flax. This variety with its subtle but rather unusual colouring will stand out against silvery foliage (silver ragwort, sagebrush) or purple foliage such as that of Loropetalum or Physocarpus. This magnificent plant looks wild and romantic all at once, combining perfectly with the feathery foliage of ferns in open woodland. You can also enjoy this marvel at home, by using it to make sumptuous bouquets.

Foxglove is very rich in active ingredients used to fight against heart arrhythmia and is also grown for medicinal use. The alkaloids it contains are toxic when ingested, but not when touched. As a precautionary measure, wash your hands after handling this plant and keep it away from young children.

Warning: seeds are meant for very experienced gardeners who are used to sowing very fine seeds. These seeds are as fine as dust and are barely visible to the naked eye.