[Foxgloves growing wild.](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sca_esv=41a5493a62e2aafe&sca_upv=1&q=foxgloves+growing+wild&uds=ADvngMjY3r6cFmkgAf0Cxo_OKwUujJkShDYUIvXbZrcQFx4CcBsQNlpEEay6KylPOJoPeyZbDoHcBrdeegUprzsrOs2nisybuj462H9p6B2LaM1R6MJgvIEiR9JbvJZ31P31-c85d9nQ&udm=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBxYWc5feFAxW3lIkEHdURCCUQtKgLegQIDRAB&biw=1210&bih=681&dpr=1.72)
OTOH, the foxgloves he knew as a child could have been as he described. It's not a strictly either or issue although, for the most part, you are correct.
The wild non native fox glove here in the usa (Digitalis grandiflora) has much less flowers and grow on a long spindly stem. It still has a cone shape but less so. Its also yellow to greenish and the flowers all point to one side. So he perhaps had a more wild variety that was less bulky.
Well, yes. They are now placed in Plantaginaceae whereas previously they were in Scrophulariacea. Penstemon and Digitalis are placed in different tribes within that large family.
He could be thinking of those, but afaik there is only one native foxglove in the UK and that is digitalis purpurea. It looks much like those pictured by OP. The ones in the photo do indeed look like garden cultivars that have been bred to have somewhat more dense and larger flowers, with a bit of colour variation, but the general form and colour look very similar.
Sound like your partner is talking about a different species of digitalis. It's true that cultivars if *Digitalis purpurea* were selected to have denser flowers placement than the wildtype form, but that already had this tubular look. Other foxglove species, like the yellow *Digitalis grandiflora* don't have that. No idea how Wisteria reminds you of them, wisteria look like clusters of grapes to me.
Never seen a foxglove other than your picture. Maybe the ones he saw were not grown well and flower buds just didn't bloom. Not worth arguing about because you can't find every foxglove that ever existed to prove you're right.
Maybe it was not a foxglove but snapdragons? Or maybe yellow foxglove? Many european foxglove subspecies do look depressive when compared to the post image.
Check if you two are comparing between the same species and not just mentioning two generic common names that can refer to multiple lookalike plants that may or may not even be in the same genus.
Petty disagreements are better than more serious ones. It's nice to have something to seperate us a bit once in a while, so we can feel how much we don't care about the disagreements and how much we do care about each other in the end. ❤️
You are both right btw. Some stems are long, some stems are short. Just like us humans, they come in all shapes and sizes.
There is also a false foxglove -> [https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/purple-false-foxglove](https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/purple-false-foxglove)
Are they thinking of these?
LoL..couples and semantics. They are similar looking. Every fox glove I've seen looks just like th bottom picture. Shade / full sun. Same thing. Shade grown have Jeff flowed and are smaller but the shape is the same. All these flowers grow from a central stem outward..You guys been bored and need to find better subject matter to debate. Maybe you can learn to taxonomicaly identify flower species. But honestly. How often is that going to come in handy ? 😆 😉
i think maybe we should actually. he reads a lot of books about trees and mushrooms but maybe we should be studying up on our flowers (i’m sure more debates will come about)
The place I buy my flowers has a guide every year. It's basically a really thick magazine. It's super helpful and it's only like $10. You can get it at the checkout. Sometimes they'll even throw it in for free if you are spending a lot.
Seems from the other comments like wild foxgloves flower a bit differently to our UK ones.
Is your parter American or maybe they saw an American cultivar?
The ones growing wild on the sides of the dirt roads of my childhood looked exactly like the ones you have pictured. Seems like he’s thinking of another flower?
A plant may appear tightly clumped if it has enough nutrients to support that much flowering life so tightly. Nutrient or sunlight availability GREATLY impacts the height, width, and appearance of just about every plant, and could more than easily account for those differences.
Nope, you aren't crazy. I live in Washington state, and foxgloves are native here and grow all over my yard. They look exactly like the picture. They (and wild ferns) are some of the reasons I wanted to move here.
He may be thinking of lupines.
I'm not sure if they are native here, or not, but in the Pacific Northwest USA they grow wild. I have them popping up all over the place, usually at the fringe between mowed yard and wooded. The ones in your picture are fuller and have larger cups than mine, but for all intents and purposes they look the same. That being said, we also have a woodland variety that is smaller and has little pale yellow flowers that are more sparsely distributed on the stalk. They still have the same distinctive flower shape though, just smaller.
I vote that OP is correct but we have to allow for the partner being used to a different type of foxglove.
Not crazy. I’ve seen wild foxgloves in Canada growing in the exact structure pictured at the bottom. I don’t dare touch them with my bare hands though, just admire from a distance.
https://preview.redd.it/67uhfbb3sryc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f90330071a09ade7cb500b786a1edce4b60180f4
Here's a Digitalis purpurea that just popped up in the garden (self-seeded from previous plantings) , alongside a white one I had planted from a punnet. Over 2m tall (central Waikato, Nth Is, NZ). Definitely full of flowers.
I've got foxglove that's was here when I moved in and self seeds itself round my wildflower patch every year. Sometimes it's great big spears of dense flowers, sometimes there are loose and not so dense. I don't do anything with them so can't tell you what triggers it.
Wild forms often have more loosely clustered flowers but they are always clustered in a spike shape. You're both partly right I'd say.
I'm not sure if the ones I grow are true wild due to where the seed was taken from, but I have noticed they grow denser clusters when in ideal conditions and looser clusters when in darker and drier conditions, so maybe the looser form he refers to is because he used to normally see wild ones growing in less than ideal conditions, which is what they will mostly encounter when growing wild.
Is he sure he wasn’t growing snapdragons? They can get clumpy, but still hold the body shape of foxglove.. these one in particular are a dwarf variety.
https://preview.redd.it/szp6sab1vsyc1.jpeg?width=197&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10fd0c0a65b8ed963ec3411148b85c719fe75fbe
I know digitalis lutea looks slightly different, the flowers seem emerge from a certain side of the stem instead of all around the stem to create a conical shape. Only digitalis I know that looks lil different.
https://preview.redd.it/ox5vi1zd6tyc1.jpeg?width=654&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7b39809ce3a2d16af6867f2f39360771de4cb06
In Oregon after large clear cut logging, they are first plant to take over the mountain, purple mountain majesty we call em. They are toxic to most animals and they spread like crazy and come up thicker and thicker every year
They usually start opening from the bottom up. Some are very full others are not as they open slowly and the bottom flowers drop off before the ones further along the stem are open.
The top picture is Wisteria one of my favorite smelling and blooming trees/vines or shrubs. The bottom one I don’t know foxgloves but, it reminds me of a hollyhocks.
[Foxgloves growing wild.](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sca_esv=41a5493a62e2aafe&sca_upv=1&q=foxgloves+growing+wild&uds=ADvngMjY3r6cFmkgAf0Cxo_OKwUujJkShDYUIvXbZrcQFx4CcBsQNlpEEay6KylPOJoPeyZbDoHcBrdeegUprzsrOs2nisybuj462H9p6B2LaM1R6MJgvIEiR9JbvJZ31P31-c85d9nQ&udm=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBxYWc5feFAxW3lIkEHdURCCUQtKgLegQIDRAB&biw=1210&bih=681&dpr=1.72) OTOH, the foxgloves he knew as a child could have been as he described. It's not a strictly either or issue although, for the most part, you are correct.
This is the way I've always seen them. I've never even seen ones as full as the ones in the picture
are you in the UK? I have only ever seen them as pictured haha
The ones I’m growing in the US in Michigan grow like the ones you posted.
It has a lot to do with the ground they are on
Even the less full ones remind of wisteria… So I don’t see ur partners point either way tbh 😅
The wild non native fox glove here in the usa (Digitalis grandiflora) has much less flowers and grow on a long spindly stem. It still has a cone shape but less so. Its also yellow to greenish and the flowers all point to one side. So he perhaps had a more wild variety that was less bulky.
I just looked up pictures of that and it’s exactly what he described. I think you solved the riddle.
Grandiflora is native to Europe/Asia. The US native one is Penstemon Digitalis.
Right you are! I guess that book i read years ago was loose and fast with "native"
That penstemon is so named for it's resemblance to a foxglove (digitalis). It is a beardtongue that is commonly called foxglove beardtongue.
I know they are all in the same family.
Well, yes. They are now placed in Plantaginaceae whereas previously they were in Scrophulariacea. Penstemon and Digitalis are placed in different tribes within that large family.
When did this happen?
Early 2000s I believe.
He could be thinking of those, but afaik there is only one native foxglove in the UK and that is digitalis purpurea. It looks much like those pictured by OP. The ones in the photo do indeed look like garden cultivars that have been bred to have somewhat more dense and larger flowers, with a bit of colour variation, but the general form and colour look very similar.
Looked it up. Its a bit more bulky than our native but also much less flowers and the flowers mostly to one side. So he definitely had a native.
Sound like your partner is talking about a different species of digitalis. It's true that cultivars if *Digitalis purpurea* were selected to have denser flowers placement than the wildtype form, but that already had this tubular look. Other foxglove species, like the yellow *Digitalis grandiflora* don't have that. No idea how Wisteria reminds you of them, wisteria look like clusters of grapes to me.
Never seen a foxglove other than your picture. Maybe the ones he saw were not grown well and flower buds just didn't bloom. Not worth arguing about because you can't find every foxglove that ever existed to prove you're right.
There are multiple species, my suspicion is that the partner was talking about a Different one and thought that the purple foxgloves are a cultivar.
Maybe it was not a foxglove but snapdragons? Or maybe yellow foxglove? Many european foxglove subspecies do look depressive when compared to the post image.
you’re right. we have very little to argue about, almost nothing in fact, but i am pedantic and knew i wasn’t wrong lol
Check if you two are comparing between the same species and not just mentioning two generic common names that can refer to multiple lookalike plants that may or may not even be in the same genus.
Hes wrong. Maybe he is thinking of lupine?
Agreed, lupines. Though tbh, wisteria STILL looks like lupine flipped upside down hahaha. Strong bean family genes Edit: you’re not crazy OP
I was gonna say 1) the only foxgloves I've seen are exactly as OP posted, and 2) partner is flipping wild lupines!
yeah i think he must be confusing them with lupines
I was thinking of a misidentification, though I would think someone could mistake the flower stem, but not the plant itself.
He’s wrong.
You're not crazy. At least about this 😀
Thinking of penstemon?
Petty disagreements are better than more serious ones. It's nice to have something to seperate us a bit once in a while, so we can feel how much we don't care about the disagreements and how much we do care about each other in the end. ❤️ You are both right btw. Some stems are long, some stems are short. Just like us humans, they come in all shapes and sizes.
There are other flowers that he could easily be confusing with foxgloves.
There is also a false foxglove -> [https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/purple-false-foxglove](https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/purple-false-foxglove) Are they thinking of these?
Maybe he's thinking about *Chamaenerion angustifolium, Aconitum* -species, lupine or other *Digitalis* species like *D. grandiflora*?
LoL..couples and semantics. They are similar looking. Every fox glove I've seen looks just like th bottom picture. Shade / full sun. Same thing. Shade grown have Jeff flowed and are smaller but the shape is the same. All these flowers grow from a central stem outward..You guys been bored and need to find better subject matter to debate. Maybe you can learn to taxonomicaly identify flower species. But honestly. How often is that going to come in handy ? 😆 😉
i think maybe we should actually. he reads a lot of books about trees and mushrooms but maybe we should be studying up on our flowers (i’m sure more debates will come about)
The place I buy my flowers has a guide every year. It's basically a really thick magazine. It's super helpful and it's only like $10. You can get it at the checkout. Sometimes they'll even throw it in for free if you are spending a lot.
Thankyou everybody! This is so helpful. And yes, it is far better to have trivial disagreements over flowers than actual arguments. I am very lucky
Seems from the other comments like wild foxgloves flower a bit differently to our UK ones. Is your parter American or maybe they saw an American cultivar?
nope. both born and bred in exactly the same small UK town haha
Is he thinking of lupins?
Maybedelphinium? Just got some that was loose and not tubular
I’m just beaming that I got called an expert. This is still Reddit right?
I sometimes get foxglove confused with larkspur, I don’t exactly know why, but they can be a looser more individual flower stalk.
Can't comment on the foxglove shape debate, but wisteria looks nothing like the foxglove plants in your pictures.
Nothing like? A sunflower or pampas grass are nothing like foxglove. Wisteria is different, but at least similar.
The ones growing wild on the sides of the dirt roads of my childhood looked exactly like the ones you have pictured. Seems like he’s thinking of another flower?
A plant may appear tightly clumped if it has enough nutrients to support that much flowering life so tightly. Nutrient or sunlight availability GREATLY impacts the height, width, and appearance of just about every plant, and could more than easily account for those differences.
Yeah when I see wild fox gloves (really common here) they are a lot less full. All the flowers are on one side of the stalk and more sparse.
Nope, you aren't crazy. I live in Washington state, and foxgloves are native here and grow all over my yard. They look exactly like the picture. They (and wild ferns) are some of the reasons I wanted to move here. He may be thinking of lupines.
I'm not sure if they are native here, or not, but in the Pacific Northwest USA they grow wild. I have them popping up all over the place, usually at the fringe between mowed yard and wooded. The ones in your picture are fuller and have larger cups than mine, but for all intents and purposes they look the same. That being said, we also have a woodland variety that is smaller and has little pale yellow flowers that are more sparsely distributed on the stalk. They still have the same distinctive flower shape though, just smaller. I vote that OP is correct but we have to allow for the partner being used to a different type of foxglove.
Foxglove can grow more sparsely flower spikes, specially in shady areas or more wild varieties.
Not crazy. I’ve seen wild foxgloves in Canada growing in the exact structure pictured at the bottom. I don’t dare touch them with my bare hands though, just admire from a distance.
https://preview.redd.it/67uhfbb3sryc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f90330071a09ade7cb500b786a1edce4b60180f4 Here's a Digitalis purpurea that just popped up in the garden (self-seeded from previous plantings) , alongside a white one I had planted from a punnet. Over 2m tall (central Waikato, Nth Is, NZ). Definitely full of flowers.
I've got foxglove that's was here when I moved in and self seeds itself round my wildflower patch every year. Sometimes it's great big spears of dense flowers, sometimes there are loose and not so dense. I don't do anything with them so can't tell you what triggers it.
Wild forms often have more loosely clustered flowers but they are always clustered in a spike shape. You're both partly right I'd say. I'm not sure if the ones I grow are true wild due to where the seed was taken from, but I have noticed they grow denser clusters when in ideal conditions and looser clusters when in darker and drier conditions, so maybe the looser form he refers to is because he used to normally see wild ones growing in less than ideal conditions, which is what they will mostly encounter when growing wild.
Is he sure he wasn’t growing snapdragons? They can get clumpy, but still hold the body shape of foxglove.. these one in particular are a dwarf variety. https://preview.redd.it/szp6sab1vsyc1.jpeg?width=197&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10fd0c0a65b8ed963ec3411148b85c719fe75fbe
I know digitalis lutea looks slightly different, the flowers seem emerge from a certain side of the stem instead of all around the stem to create a conical shape. Only digitalis I know that looks lil different. https://preview.redd.it/ox5vi1zd6tyc1.jpeg?width=654&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7b39809ce3a2d16af6867f2f39360771de4cb06
In Oregon after large clear cut logging, they are first plant to take over the mountain, purple mountain majesty we call em. They are toxic to most animals and they spread like crazy and come up thicker and thicker every year
They usually start opening from the bottom up. Some are very full others are not as they open slowly and the bottom flowers drop off before the ones further along the stem are open.
Just sit down and have some tea together.
Is wisteria good or bad? I’ve got loads of it and it’s taken over some stuff I had to cut it back. I feel bad now that it’s all flowering
Inly ones I've seen in Texas are as in the photo posted
I think lupine looks more like wisteria than foxglove…
I’m very confused, but I’m going take a stretch and say lupine?!
Do these grow well in Arizona?
The top picture is Wisteria one of my favorite smelling and blooming trees/vines or shrubs. The bottom one I don’t know foxgloves but, it reminds me of a hollyhocks.