Digitalis laevigata Alba - Foxglove

Digitalis laevigata Alba is a beautiful form with very light flowers of a botanical species native to Southeastern Europe called Smooth Foxglove. Rare in cultivation, it is nevertheless a very reliable and easy-to-grow perennial plant that deserves to be planted more in gardens. Spectacular in appearance, with long and discreetly coloured summer flowering from creamy white to pale yellow. Less demanding in terms of soil and moisture than the purple foxglove of our woodlands, it will be satisfied with ordinary soil, even limestone which can be fairly dry in summer. It will thrive in semi-shaded borders and beds, but also in the sun if the soil remains moist.

Digitalis laevigata Alba is a plant of the Plantaginaceae family. Its yellow-orange flowered ancestor is native to the mountains of Greece and the Balkans. Its natural habitat consists of thickets, scrublands, and woodlands. 

It is a perennial herbaceous plant that develops a large evergreen rosette of 30-40 cm (12-16in) in diameter from spring onwards, with entire, smooth, lanceolate leaves, strongly veined, which are a vibrant green colour. It flowers in July-August. From the soil, sturdy flower stalks rise to reach a height of 60 to 80 cm (24 to 32in). Adorned with small leaves halfway up their height, they bear numerous flowers that are not tightly packed together at the top. Each flower consists of a hairy green calyx, releasing a swollen tubular corolla extended by a prominent lower lip. They bloom from bottom to top for 2 to 3 weeks. Each flower attracts a ballet of bees and bumblebees, tirelessly replenishing themselves with nectar and pollen. After pollination, capsules (fruits) containing numerous seeds form and spontaneously reseed in light soil. The above-ground vegetation, deciduous, dries up in winter.

Plant Digitalis laevigata Alba in a sunny border, at the edge of a grove, or in a light woodland, in ordinary soil that is not too dry but still damp, even limestone. It pairs well with pastel roses, acanthus, and small blue-flowered perennials such as certain perennial geraniums. This variety, with its delicate colour, will be enhanced by silver foliage (maritime cineraria, shrubby artemisia) or purple foliage like that of Loropetalum or Physocarpus. This plant also complements heucheras and the feathery foliage of ferns in light woodlands. Enjoy these flowers indoors as well by creating beautiful bouquets.

The foxglove is rich in active ingredients used to treat heart rhythm disorders and is also cultivated for medicinal purposes. The alkaloids it contains are toxic when ingested but not through contact. It is advisable to wash hands after handling this plant and keep it away from young children as a precaution.