Digitalis thapsi 'Spanish Peaks'
Spanish Peaks Foxglove
Item #: 16658
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Origin: Portugal, Spain
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
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Digitalis thapsi 'Spanish Peaks' is the first species of foxglove we've found to be a good perennial in our hot, humid, and rainy climate. Hailing from Spain and Portugal, Digitalis thapsi prefers good drainage and a reasonably dry site. For us, the large fuzzy basal green leaves are topped, starting in mid-April with 2' tall spikes ending in medium-sized pink bells. Our offering is seed strain popularized by the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Maintenance:
Digitalis thapsi requires little more than cutting it down once its done blooming either as soon it's finished or once the seed is ripe. The capsules will turn brown and split open when the seeds have matured. New basal foliage will be produced and remain fresh the rest of the year. While truly a perennial species of Digitalis, plants won't live forever so leaving some seed to mature and shed should produce an adequate number of replacement plants. Or seed can be collected and sown. Volunteer seedlings transplant readily if they come up where they are not wanted. They might need to be shaded initially if transplanted during hot weather.
Digitalis thapsi will hybridize with its close cousin Digitalis purpurea so one might want to keep these two isolated from each other so as to keep each one true to type.
Growing Conditions:
Though very much resembling its close cousin, the Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Digitalis thapsi is very much a sun lover and very tolerant of sunny dry spots and not the woodland native that D. purpurea is. Avoid soggy spots when growing Digitalis thapsi.
Garden Value:
This is the foxglove we have been waiting for. at least for those who garden where the Common Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, does not succeed. Decades of gardening have always produced the same results when growing D. purpurea: the plant thrives all year until the day before it is to bloom at which point the plant succumbs to some dreadful pest. In this same area a gardener can count on succeeding with Digitalis thapsi.
Though Digitalis thapsi is half the height of Digitalis purpurea in bloom, it produces an abundance of spikes of nearly identical pink "fox gloves". It is a showy thing in bloom. There are other species of Digitalis that do succeed in this area (Piedmont, NC) such as D. ferruginea and D. lanata, that are more curious looking and not overly showy, whereas D. thapsi most definitely is showy.
Natural Impact:
Bumblebees visit the flowers of Digitalis. Rabbits and deer tend to leave the toxic foxgloves alone.
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Other Attributes
Genus: Digitalis
Flower Color: Pink
Leaf Color: Green
Bloom Time: Spring
Container Role: Thrillers
Garden Themes: Cottage Garden Plants , Green Roofs , Rock Garden Plants , Southwest Garden Plants
Other: Cut Flower Plants , Drought Tolerant Plants , Dry Shade Plants , Plants Named After Animals , Rabbit Resistant Plants , Xeriscaping Plants