Sunday, July 5, 2009

To Beckon You into the Garden

We planted some Foxglove (Digitalis Purpurea 'Foxy') along the side of the house leading from the front of the house to the garden gate. It is a sheltered, south-facing location in dappled light from a neighbour’s nearby spruce tree.


This was another neglected garden site, with just a lonely cedar; probably a Thuja occidentalis ‘Holmstrup’, and the ubiquitous gravel that was everywhere. There was a narrow concrete sidewalk very close to the house that was bordered in rubber edging at sharp right angles which scraped my ankles more than once as I turned the corner. We took out all that gravel, concrete and rubber, trimmed the cedar and gave it a good soaking and feeding, amended the soil with generous helpings of compost and peat moss and then added a thick layer of bark mulch.


We are going to say good-bye to the right angles there and make a curvy walkway lined in stones and woodland plants, and probably a hydrangea or two, to guide visitors to our garden.


The ‘Foxy’ foxglove is a biennial that actually blooms the first season. This foxglove is hardy to USDA Zone 4a so whether it will set seedlings here will be seen next year. It really brightens up this spot and the bees are scrambling over each other to get to it. Of course, I also hear the fairie folk rather like it as well.

11 comments:

RURAL said...

One of my favorite flowers, of course I have many fav's but it does rank right up there.

Beautiful colors.

Jen

Jan said...

A very pretty foxglove! You'll have to show photos when you finish your paths!

Helen said...

A lovely addition to any garden. Don't you wish all plants had such adorable names.

Ruthie Redden said...

foxgloves, beautiful things, our garden is overflowing with them as the seedlings set very easily here. am loving the plans you have for your garden

Heather said...

Beautiful! They really are lovely flowers and so stately too~

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Thanks, everyone! I think they are a lovely flower and have so much presence with their height and luminous colours.

I will definitely post pics once we finish the walkway - one of our projects for this year.

Ellie Mae's Cottage said...

So lovely. Foxgloves are one of my favorites. Only problem is that I can never get them to come back the next year. I even make sure they self seed - but still every year I buy new ones. Wish I knew what I was doing wrong. -Jackie

Gardenista said...

This foxglove seeded itself for me here at the 55th latitude (though we have lots of snow). If you want a fully perennial foxglove, you could try Digitalis grandiflora. It does well in my garden.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Jackie: I like the impact of these plants so much that I think I would buy new ones each year if...if I have to... :)

Gardenista: Good to hear they seeded for you. I just looked up the Digitalis grandiflora and it looks lovely. Thanks for the tip!

Ellie Mae's Cottage said...

Awesome pics! I love foxgloves too but I can never get them to come back even though I make sure they seed. I always end up replanting them every year. ... oh well they are worth it. -Jackie

tlchang said...

Mine seed themselves like crazy. One of the few non-edibles I allow to keep growing in my yard.

I love the sound of your plans for curvy walkways. It all sounds wonderfully welcoming.