Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Yarden maintenance May into June, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
ssgardener--

Re the Foxgloves.....Please know that ALL parts of this plant are quite toxic--especially the seeds.

When the blooms fade--all those little "bumps" left over up and down the stem--are seed pods.
Foxglove seeds are like coarse dust--too small to even pick up--but you can gather them if you like.
Allow the pods to dry and then just cut them off and let them drop into a bowl of some kind.

Wearing gloves (I use the regular Latex ones), crunch up all the seed pods and get rid of the shells.
Sift the remaining contents through a fine sieve/strainer and you will now have the seeds.

PLEASE be careful!!! You do not want to inhale any of the seeds!!! Discard the gloves when you are done.
Wash your hands after"messing" with this plant as well. Better safe than sorry!

To measure out seeds for sharing and bagging up in mini zip-bags, use a long-handled small spoon.
Even a Popsicle stick will work.

Foxgloves are seriously biennial--and will drop seed, which comes up in fall and overwinters as small plants.
In spring--these plants, and a bunch of new ones, will grow everywhere.
You will be amazed how fast and how big these plants can grow!

Then--they start sending up the bloom spike, which can grow to 5' or more.
The blooms start at the bottom of the spike and continue forming buds and blooming to the very end.
Please stake it --or it will fall over from the weight of the blooms--especially if it rains.

Late fall and early spring is a good time to dig the seedlings up and move them where you want them.
That is where I got all mine that I had at the Swap. I think I had over 30.

Gita
Picture is from this March--showing how the foxgloves start to bolt from the leaf-mass. This will be the bloom stem.