Changing Gloves

Foxgloves/Digitalis purpurea are a biennial plants.

That means that they grow one season and bloom the next.

They reseed themselves, so I have some blooming every year.

Because they reseed/self-sow, they tend to move a little way from the original plant

and they change colors.

(If you save the seeds, let them dry and sow them during the fall in partial shade.)

There are three different genes that determine the amount and location of pigments.

A recessive form of the pink gene (m) leads to no pink/white.

So when a white mixes with other colors of foxglove, white tends to disappear.

The pinks are blooming full now.

pink foxglove

I do have one with a white top. I don’t know how to explain this one genetically.

light pink and white foxglove

There are no whites in my gardens this year.

I usually try to keep whites by purchasing one every few years.

Instead,  I acquired a lovely peachy type this year named, Dalmation.

‘Dalmation’ foxglove

Its label says perennial, so I don’t have much confidence in its name either.

It’s a nice companion to an unnamed verbascum/mullein which I obtained last year.

verbascum/mullein

I will see how its genes fit into the mix.

I expect this glove to change, too.

FLOWER

 

 

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