Biennial

I know that Biennial plants grow for the 1st year and flower for the 2nd, but what happens during year 3?

My 2 Foxgloves flowered well last year, after they flowered the stalks were removed and I thought that was the end of it, but the plants have doubled in size since and have massive green leaves as well as new ones growing. Can I expect them to grow a new flower stalk this year or will it never flower again?

 

Foxgloves, like many biennials, can also be 'short lived perennials', in that they can live for more than 2 years. Foxgloves can also bloom for more than a couple of years. Cutting off the dead flower stalks is probably what's kept them alive, although they can sometimes survive anyway.

I'd expect them to bloom again this year if they're still alive, although the cool thing about foxgloves is the sheer number of seeds they produce, and the fact that the seeds don't always germinate at the first opportunity, so once they set seed, you'll usually have them coming back anyway, even if the parent plant does die.

 

That's good news, ill keep my fingers crossed. They look very healthy so I expect they will stay with me.

I removed most of the seed pods last year and have quite a few in an envelope, some probally made it into the ground, but even so, if the plant doesn't flower I will end up replacing it with a garden centre one as I don't think I could wait a year for seedlings to flower lol.

 

I think foxglove seeds need 'cold stratification' (ie they need to sit on the ground and be exposed to the cycling of freezing and thawing that you get over winter) in order to germinate, so if you do plan to sow the seeds you've collected, you might want to have a read on how to simulate that (I've never done it, but apparently it involves the fridge or freezer - just be sure that they don't get into your food if you do it though, all parts of foxglove are extremely poisonous).

 

For Stratification seeds need to be cold and wet (well, "damp") as if they were in the soil, over winter, and frosted/chilled now and again. Actually they don't the temperature to cycle/vary as such, so in the fridge will do. Some things want to see Autumn as well as Winter, so that's a warm period (again "damp", so just putting a (dry) seed packet in the right place is not the answer) followed by a cold period. Either sow them in a pot and then put the pot at the right temperature (which I find causes Mrs K to be incredibly unreasonable when the fridge is full of such pots ), or put them in a small zip-lock plastic bag which can be moved to a warm area (if necessary for that species) for Autumn, and then the fridge for Winter. Either use a bit of damp kitchen paper, or e.g. coffee filter paper, in the bag to keep the seeds "damp", or a small quantity of just-damp vermiculite (more bulky, but I find it easier to get the moisture / air ratio that I want - there is a lot more leeway than with a soggy piece of paper). After the stratification cycle then either sow the seeds conventionally in a tray/pot etc. for the germination phase, or leave them in plastic bag (stored / moved to correct temperature) and then "prick out" when they germinate - obviously a bit fiddly with small seeds and tiny roots.

Or - before winter sow them in a pot and leave it outside for the winter but if doing this late in the Winter, such as now, probably not enough cold nights left, so the Fridge route will simulate the Winter period.

Tom Clothier's site has good info for a very large number of species on What Temperature and How Long.

http://tomclothier.hort.net

 

Thanks for making my mind up for me.

Should the Foxgloves not show any signs of a flower stalk by mid April I shall get in my car and drive to the garden centre to buy 2 new ones

 

looks like I may have 2 baby foxgloves growing in the Cotswold stone chippings infront of the rockery.

Never noticed them before, its as though they sprouted overnight. They are big enough to have the recognisable leaves, just need to try and get them out without damaging them, and then into a flower pot until they are bigger