NOTEWORTHY PERENNIALS 



83 



they are equally attractive wlien planted in masses or when used as 

 single plants. 



Culture. They grow readily anywhere if planted in rich loam 

 and are equally good in shady or sunny positions. 



Propagation. The plants should be divided soon after they 

 finish flowering. 



Digitalis — Foxglove, Witches' Thimbles 



"The Foxglove, in whose drooping bells the bee 

 Makes her sweet music." 



— B. Cornwall 



A well grown Foxglove in full flower is a plant of dignity and 

 beauty. The long flowering spikes grow from 3 feet to 6 feet tall, 

 rising high above large clumps of broad, downy leaves. Upon the 

 flowering stalk, the 

 flowers open slowly 

 as the impulse to 

 bloom moves upward. 

 This tends to length- 

 en the blooming sea- 

 son. The flowers are 

 tubular or beU-shaped 

 and hang closely on 

 one side of the stem 

 so that sometimes 

 four rows try to oc- 

 cupy the same posi- 

 tion. This arrange- 

 ment is more ap- 

 parent than real, for 

 the flowers reaUy or- 

 iginate on all sides of 

 the stem, but the 

 short stems somehow 

 twist around so that 

 they all seem to be 

 on one side. These 

 spikes which are so 

 tall and erect, bear 



the SmaH, thimble- a ma... of Foxgloves we all may have. 



