Quegram, foxgloves are biennials or short lived perennials. They certainly won't be at their fullest the first year. The flower stalks are sent up during the second year. Are you removing them or plowing them under after the first year?

If they are not living through the first season, you might try a better draining soil (they will grow on rock outcroppings in the wild). Ideally in a garden, they prefer nitrogen-rich sandy loam soil, in partial sun to full shade.

Thank you for your reply. I finally broke down and bought a plant this year. It's doing well and I'm hoping it will do well enough where it is to reseed itself. I've never been able to get the plants I've started from seed to grow more than a couple of leaves before they give up and die.
I'll just have to keep trying!

If you try growing it from seed again, try a few things.

First, solarize the area you are going to grow it in. Do this by putting a layer of black plastic down. You can top this with a clear sheet, spaced an inch or so over the black plastic, for even better results. Then leave this for about a week or so. Pretty much any disease (anthracnose and verticillium wilt are two common foxglove problems) in the soil will be killed by the extreme heat. Obviously, this can only be done if no other plants are in this area at the time.

Secondly, when you water, do so in the mornings and maybe use a soaker hose instead of overhead watering. Choose an area that doesn't stay wet or swampy.

Lastly, watch for pests such as aphids or beetles. If you go to all this trouble and they don't do well, I'd definitely give up. (-:

I have grown foxglove successfully in Gibson County, Tennessee, but it is a lot of trouble. They tend to get too hot, therefore, the coolest spot in the yard is where they do best, and they should be shielded from the afternoon sun. As I said, they are a lot of trouble, but they are spectacular when they bloom, and the blooming season is quite long.

Try sowing your seed in late summer. Being bienials, they need to be planted when the seed would normally be falling off the plant. They should come up the following spring, but likely won't make a flower stalk that season.

Late that second summer, sow more seed where the basal plants are. This will get a cycle going. The following year you should have new plants coming up and mature plants blooming and dropping seed. The cycle of life continues from there.

These were grown in Nashville in a semi-shaded spot, well draining, rich soil. I added compost and old cow manure to this bed when I first moved in. These shots were taken after a couple of years.