Digitalis laevigata

• perennial

southern blight, anthracnose, fungal leaf spots

Plant Type: perennial

Plant Form or Habit: upright/vertical

Plant Use: Back of the border, or in the center of a bed.

Light Requirement: full sun full sun/part shade

Flower Color: yellow purple white

Bloom Period: early summer mid-summer

Height: Minimum: 36 inches Maximum: 45 inches Width: Minimum: 12 inches Maximum: 45 inches

Foliage Texture: medium

USDA Hardiness Zone: 5 to 9.

Heat zone 9-3

Water Requirements: average

Additional Comments: Native to southern Europe. Reportedly only hardy to Zone 7, D. laevigata grows well in our Zone 5 test plots. Jelitto and Schacht report that this plant prefers a limestone soil and will thrive on open wooded slopes. All parts of Digitalis are poisonous. While not invasive, this plant travels by reseeding itself.

Tall, glabrous, red-stemmed spikes hold yellow campanulate flowers with purple veins and a white lower lip. Lanceolate leaves are edged in red.