What Your Foxgloves Need in May – For Spectacular, Longer Lasting Summer Blooms
They may look effortlessly romantic, but a few care tasks this month can make all the difference to your foxgloves
Foxgloves (Digitalis) are among the most beloved plants of late spring and early summer, with their unapologetic cottage-garden charm. While these elegant blooms are often considered wonderfully low-maintenance, May is a key month for giving them a little extra attention before flowering gets fully underway.
From staking tall stems before they flop to watering wisely, a handful of simple jobs now can help foxgloves produce healthier foliage, stronger flower spikes, and longer-lasting blooms into the summer and the following season.
1. Stake Stems
You may not need (or want) to stake all your foxgloves, but by May many begin putting on rapid growth, and tall stems can easily bend or flop in strong winds or rain if left unsupported.
Among the best natural supports for tall perennials are bamboo canes, which you can find at Amazon, and hazel pea sticks.
You could also place discreet metal plant supports around stems before flowers fully emerge, allowing foliage to grow around them naturally. This plant support from Target has an adjustable height and the green shade will blend in better with your beds.
The taller, biennial types often benefit most from staking. When tying stems in place, use soft natural garden twine, such as this from Amazon, and avoid fastening too tightly.
2. Deadhead regularly
When it comes to knowing what to do with foxgloves after flowering, deadheading is a vital task. But you can do it throughout the growing period, too.
Once the lower flowers on a spike start to fade, it’s worth deadheading to encourage the plant to direct energy into the flowers at the top, and producing additional side shoots.
You can remove the individual flowers that have faded, and later in the season snip any faded flower spikes. The Felco 322 Snips we reviewed last month are ideal for this job. This can often trigger smaller secondary flower spikes further up, subtly extending the flowering season.
Always wear gloves when snipping foxgloves, as all parts of the plant are poisonous. We love these floral gardening gloves from Target, which would protect your hands for all kinds of gardening jobs.
3. Water Wisely
Foxgloves are often described as unfussy, but they perform far better in late spring when soil moisture is kept consistent, and particularly during unusually dry US springs.
Aim to water deeply rather than little and often, encouraging roots to grow downwards and establish more quickly. This is especially important for container-grown plants, which can dry out quickly in warm, windy conditions.
A mulch around the base will also help lock in moisture and keep the root zone cooler, supporting stronger stems and more reliable flowering as temperatures rise.
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4. Feed Just Enough
A small amount of feed can help foxgloves grow to their full potential in May, but restraint is key. Overfeeding this month can lead to lots of leafy foliage at the expense of flowers.
A balanced, general-purpose fertiliser applied sparingly, or a top dressing of well-rotted compost, is usually more than enough to support growth at this stage.
You may find it more helpful to feed your plants if you are growing foxgloves in containers, where nutrients are used up more quickly, than if they are in the ground.
Avoid high-nitrogen feeds, and opt for an all-purpose flower feed such as Miracle-Gro Bloom Booster from Amazon.
5. Manage Self Seeding
One of the charms of foxgloves is their ability to self-seed, creating naturalistic drifts so typical of cottage gardens. However, a little control in May helps keep them from becoming overcrowded.
If you want plants to spread, leave a few healthy flower spikes in place so seed can mature and fall naturally, while thinning out excess seedlings as they appear to prevent competition.
Young foxglove plants transplant well at this stage if moved carefully while still small.
With a little care and attention this month, your foxgloves should continue to provide gentle drama and a home for delighted bees until midsummer.
If you're growing foxgloves in pots or containers and want some quick tips to get your patio ready for summer hosting fast, we reveal the inside track from designers in our recent feature.
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