Digitalis 'Foxglove' at Planting Fields Arboretum. Photo by June Stoyer

Digitalis 'Foxglove' at Planting Fields Arboretum. Photo by June Stoyer

Foxglove bears tall, dramatic spikes of tubular flowers with speckled throats. It blooms in midsummer and adds elegance to a perennial border, woodland area, or shade garden.

Foxglove leaves contain digitalis, a potent heart medicine, and are considered poisonous.

The best-known species is the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. This biennial plant is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers which range in colour from various purple tints through various shades of light gray, and to purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings.