Last year I had great success W-sowing Digitalis purpurea, which is the biennial species. Native to Europe, it grows in partially shaded woodlands, along bodies of water, etc. in its natural habitat. I have read it likes medium soil and part shade. Apparently the crowns can rot over the winter if the soil is too wet. I planted mine in the hummingbird garden, which is partial sun and the moistest soil in the yard. They loved it there because they grew into huge clumps. Some retained more green foliage than others over the winter. The biggest one turned brown and looked like it had died, so I thought it might have been too wet over the winter for that one, but it is putting out a bit of new growth, so we'll see.

Hi! I've got 'Purpurea' and I can see why you love it. It's always grown beautifully here in 6b (microclimate 8a). I'm a real Dahlia fan and would love to trade! I have other cannas available, as well and will attach my tradelists here to move things along. Happy Spring and I look forward to a great trade! Lily Seeds I have to trade: Canna edulis Canna, others Roses, too many to list here Other seeds - hundreds; too many to list, just ask Seeds I am looking for: Coffea sp. Dahlias Plants I have to trade: Very large variety of Cacti & other Succulents Jack-in-the-Pulpit, native variety Dutchmen's Breeches, pink and white flowered Maidenhair Fern Male Fern mosses Trout lily: white with pale pink flowers and heavily purple mottled foliage Solomon's Seal Variagated Solomon's Seal Sedum tel. "Black Jack" very black foliage Sedum "Angelina" Agave pups, 3-4 types More cacti & other succulents than I know what to do with! Hatiora & Rhipsalis' Peonies; too many to list Mayapples Purple Sessile Trillium Purle foliaged clover, hardy to zone 5 ****Terrestrial Orchid, Aplectrum hyemale. Very rare. Native. Easy to care for. Will only trade a few to maintain the balance in my woodland habitat. and only for a really special trade. Gooseneck Loosestrife Heirloom Daffodil, 1620, N. telemonius plenus. naturalizes well and each bulb mutates at will. All are very double; some are all yellow, some look like peonies on a bad hair day with white, green and yellow petals. Heirloom Daffodil N. actaea. Orig. "Poets' Daffodil. Bluebells, Virginia - Mertensis virginica gentain blue native fragrant woodland phlox. 18 in. tall. Bamboo, Yellow-groove Native red & yellow columbine groundnut - Apios americana - few trades Cinnamon Vine - few trades - Dioscorea batatas Variety german bearded Iris Lime Balm - yes LIME Catnip Daylilies: species H. fulva Autumn Red Catherine Woodbury Coryton Pink Fairy Tale Pink Joan Senior Ruffled Apricot Honey Redhead Currant Red Bells of Gold Peach Blow Pink charm Big Kiss Miss Jessie Open Hearth Strawberry Candy Regency Summer Bamboo Blackie My Ruffled Jewel Emma's Pastel Ruffles Lady Neva Orchid Corsage Memphis Knight Elfin Illusion Hostas: Spilt Milk Sun Power Aphrodite Sum & Substance Blue Angel So Sweet Patriot many more... Lg. variety ornamental grasses Cannas: Cleopatra, Black Knight, Journey's End, Bengal Tiger, few trades of each Saffron Crocus-limited number French Shallot bulblets Plume Poppy - Macleaya cordata Lemon balm Surprize Lily - Lycoris sqamigera Giant Butterbur - Petasites japonica var. 'Gigantia' Garlic Mustard aka Jack by the Hedge - Alliaria sp. Several types of Cryptanthus Hoya, Mexican rope Osmanthus longistylus - rarer native form of Sweet Cicely. tastes the same; easier to care for. Looks similar. Angelica atropurpurea Seneca Black Snakeroot Roses: Here's the list of roses available & the list of ones I can offer cuttings from: Species: R.x hibernica - Wild Irish Rose R. woodsii R. rugosa typica R. rugosa alba R. davidii R. pomifera (alpine rose) R. foliolosa R. harrisonii R. nitida Others: Ballerina Sir Thomas Lipton Rosarie L'He Hansa Therese Bugnet Cuttings: Old Blush Narrow Water Scot's Briar - R. spinosissima Stanwell Perpetual The Gift Zepherine Druhin Veilchenblau R. xanthina Blanc Double de Coubert R. alba semi-plena - White Rose of York R. damscena officinalis - Apothecary or Red Rose of Lancaster Kazanlik R. moschata Commandante Beaurepaire Don Juan R. mulliganii Moonlight R. acicularis Betty Prior Dorothy Perkins R. pendulina R. eglanteria - apple-scented foliaged Eglantine rose of Shakespeare Carefree Delight R. glauca Many more; too many to list; just ask! I also have over 300 plants from which I can trade cuttings, such as: Arctic Kiwi male & female, Viburnum opulus var. rosea, Red twig dogwood, 15 or so different varieties of Elderberry and the same number varieties of willows; etc. Plants I am looking for: Sedum roseum aka Rhodiola rosa - will make a trade for this very worth your time!!! Thalia sp, fragrant Amer. Water Lily Clubmoss Trillium grandiflorum Azolla Bananas; any variety Kaffir Lime Fairy Moss; floating Water lettuce other trilliums Dahlias: purples, cactus forms, tempt me. Cattail Agapanthus, any blue variety Bald Cypress seedlings water lilies, minis - hardy Lotus, hardy Wild blueberries Wild strawberries Wintergreen Wild ginger, European - Asarum europeum Grecian Foxglove - Digitalis lanata water hyacinth BULBS! Tempt me! Crinums Hardy water plants: scouring rush, water fern (floating), Pickerel weed Bog Plants Woodland plants Canna 'Stuttgart' Canna 'Australia' Lavenders- ANY! but, stoechas, any others Rosemary - any form; upright or prostrate Lady's Slipper Orchids Thymes Species roses, such as: Rosa carolina, R. palustris, R. arkansana, R. californica, R. primula, R. virginica, R. ecae, R. moyesii, R. canina Other roses: The Fairy, Little White Pet, Lavander Pinocchio, Cafe Ole, Basye's Purple, miniatures, purples, multicolors for hobby hybridizing.

Thanks! I do have both larkspur and Delphiniums, and don't have any problem with them, so far anyway, they are both on thier second year. Will Monkshood grow in part shade? If the foxgloves I put in this year don't come back, that is an option for that spot. I will have to make sure to mulch the foxgloves this fall. I guess it is the tall colorful spikes I am looking for, I have a lot of blue in the garden already. I have a number of island gardens, I bet the foxgloves would grow great in what I call my front garden, everything does! But it is already soo full there is no room for more. And no space to expand it. This bed just happens to be in the one spot in the yard, where the oak leaves blow in and mulch it, with no help from me. And the largest snowbank in the yard is over it every year. Perfect! Jenny P

Most (though not all) kinds foxglove (Digitalis) are biennial, so they grow a rosette of leaves in year one, flowers in year two, and usually die after that, though once in a blue moon they will come back for a second year of blooming in my garden. Leave some of the later bloom stalks to go to seed if you want it to continue, but deadhead early bloom stalks to get additional booms as the summer progresses. Mine seems to like it best in part shade and relatively even moisture as that's where it seeds most. It blooms most of the summer and sometimes into the fall for me. Occasionally its medium-large leaves will overwhelm a more delicate plant, so I remove seedlings where this might happen. The most common ones (Digitalis purpurea) are various shades of white, pink and pinkish purple. All foxglove plants contain a compound that effects heart rhythms if eaten, so be sure to wash your hands after handling. As Gardenweed said, Columbine (Aquilegia) self-seeds readily here in New England, but it plays well with others and is easy to remove, so it isn't a pest. It seems happiest when direct seeded, but I have transplanted it successfully. It is a spring to midsummer bloomer here. The original Nora Barlow is a double deep pink with some paler/greenish areas on the petals, a quite different form than traditional columbines, but IME the plant behaves the same way as more traditional columbines. There are now other columbines with similar form but other colors. IME most columbines are relatively short-lived perennials (a few years, but not more than 5 or 6) so save some seed just in case. IME, New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) is a great plant for the wilder edges of the garden. It is a perennial native wildflower, tall and with a purple flower that happens here for just a few weeks in late August into September. There is often some purple shading to the stems. NY ironweed likes wet feet, at least here in New England since that's where the wild populations are, though it will probably grow just fine in average soil once established. My only ironweed/Vernonia, a different species than your seeds, was eaten by voles within weeks of its planting, so if you have voles, you might want to protect the plant with some hardware cloth. If you don't want seedlings, deadhead. Cockscomb (Celosia) is usually planted as an annual, though I think there are some varieties which are perennial in the warmest zones. Depending on the type, the plants' height may vary quite a bit so perhaps either the seed packets or your daughter can give you more information about the plants' height. The flower form may vary some as well, but they are usually bright shades of red, orange and gold. My garden is well-drained, acid, fine sandy loam with fairly good organic matter and my weather is quite different from yours, so YMMV.