I
remember this lovely plant from my grandmother’s garden, and I remember she was
proud of it for some reason, maybe because it wasn’t common or hardy in her
growing zone. It turns out it used to be
grown more frequently in gardens until about the 1960’s and it’s a shame
gardeners aren’t growing it more often now. It has been grown in western
gardens since at least 1830. I was able to get a small plant from Select Seed
this spring and I am very happy with the plant, which in a couple months is
large and producing lots of flowers.
There
are two scientific names floating around for the plant, Rehmannia elata is probably the most common. It’s called Chinese
Foxglove (common name) because its native to China and the flowers somewhat
resemble the common foxglove. It’s
related to Rehmanniae radix, an
important herb in Chinese medicine.
Chinese
foxglove is not related to the common garden foxglove many gardeners are
familiar with. It has larger flowers and blooms much longer than regular
foxglove. The foliage stays green
through summer and turns red in the fall in colder areas. In zones 8 and above it’s evergreen and may
bloom through the winter season.
This
pretty plant has a basal rosette of foliage at first, then sending up blooming
stalks with alternate leaves. The leaves
are rough textured with fine hairs and prominent veins. They have an irregularly scalloped edge and
grow up to 10 inches long. Plants
average 2-3 feet high with bloom stalks but can get to 5 feet in perfect
conditions. Plants have rhizomatous
roots and spread quickly in good conditions.
My small plant has numerous daughter plants in it’s first year of
growth.
The
flowers of Chinese foxglove are tubular, with a flared lip of 3 fused petals
and dangle downward. They are about 3
inches long. Most are a rosy, peachy
pink with a yellow throat dotted with carmine.
Some nurseries have developed strains with deeper pink flowers and there
is a rare white variety that’s hard to find.
It must be started by cuttings. The plants are free blooming, with
stalks of flowers from spring to frost.
Bees and hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers.
Chinese
foxglove likes rich, moist, well-drained soil but is tolerant of most soil
types. In the north it will grow in full
sun if kept well-watered. My plants
receive nearly full sun. Above zone 7 it
should in partial or dappled shade. It’s biggest drawback, that I can see, is
that it’s not hardy in zone 6 and lower and in zone 7 must be heavily
mulched. I intend to save seed and also
to try and overwinter a young plant on the unheated porch.
Rehmania
elata is fairly easy to start from seed and will bloom the first year from
seed. It should be started inside 8-10
weeks before your last frost. The seeds
need warm soil to germinate and should be lightly pressed into the soil because
light is also needed for germination.
It’s important to keep the seeds evenly moist until germination. Gardeners can find small plants from
specialty nurseries on line but it’s uncommon to see them in many retail
greenhouses in the northern states.
In
zones 7 and higher where the plant is hardy it can spread quickly and make
large clumps and some southern gardeners consider it invasive. The plants can be divided and started from
cuttings also.
In the
US this plant has few insect or disease problems. Slugs are said to eat it, although they don’t
normally prefer plants with rough leaves like it has so I am skeptical. I have seen Japanese beetles on the plants
but have noticed little damage.
While
Chinese foxglove is related to a commercially important herbal plant, little is
known about this species herbal value.
It has toxic properties though and should not be experimented with. I would consider it poisonous.
No comments:
Post a Comment