• Eventual height: 0.9m
  • Eventual spread: 0.3m

Digitalis × mertonensis

strawberry foxglove

RHS award of garden merit Perfect for pollinators
approx 1000 seeds £3.49
RH30001005
£6.99
RH30001019
£20.97 £18.00
RH30006353
£41.94 £24.00
SD30000519
£3.49
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  • Standard £5.95
  • Named Day £10.95

This perennial dies back to below ground level each year in autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in spring.

  • Position: Partial shade
  • Soil: Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
  • Rate of growth: Average to fast
  • Flowering period: June to July
  • Hardiness: Fully hardy


This striking and robust short-lived perennial that is a hybrid between the pink flowered D. purpurea and the yellow flowered D. grandiflora. The resulting plant produces bell-shaped flowers in late spring and early summer, which are an intriguing mix of the two shades.


  • Garden care:
    Ensure that the soil is kept moist in summer. After the first flowerspikes have finished flowering, cut them back to encourage sideshoots to develop, which can go on to provide a second flush of flower. Then, when the last of these have died off, cut them all down to the ground. Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted organic matter around the plant in early spring.

    These plants are mainly biennial, although they will often self-seed freely.


  • Sowing instructions:
    Lightly press the seed onto the surface of a well-watered seed compost in mid to late spring and keep in a cold frame. When large enough to handle, pot on into individual cells and once they have developed a decent basal rosette of foliage they can be hardened off before planting out. They will usually start to flower in their second year.


  • Sow: March to May
    • Humans/Pets: TOXIC if eaten
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