Yellow Foxglove

This pretty plant is a shorter variety of the purple foxglove, with soft creamy yellow blooms netted with brown. A favourite of cottage gardeners for its charming, unfussy contribution to the billowing colours of the mixed border, yellow foxglove is a biennial, perennial in some zones, blooming the second summer after it is seeded. It prefers a loamy, well-drained soil, and sun or part shade. It dislikes the wet and may develop crown rot if planted in an area with poor drainage. It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies, blooming from early to mid-summer, and if faded blooms are cut down, it will rebloom. Children may be tempted to wear the buttery little cups on their fingers, but beware: Yellow foxglove is poisonous in all its parts, containing powerful cardioactive glycosides that are toxic when ingested even in tiny amounts. Best to look and not touch when admiring this lovely garden dweller!