Digitalis valinii Illumination Flame - Foxglove

Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' is a new plant endowed with a flamboyant and devastating beauty. This not very hardy perennial resembles a foxglove with its immense spikes of small orange-red flames with an orange-yellow throat, but its flowering is endless, and its vegetation more perennial and vigorous. It is a very beautiful hybrid, obtained by the seed company Thompson and Morgan, from a foxglove and an isoplexis from the Canary Islands. Impressive, exotic and colorful, it is grown in a fresh and well-drained soil, in partial shade.

Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame' is a plant of the Plantaginaceae family, hardier than the Isoplexis canariensis, but more vigorous, more floriferous and more colourful than a foxglove. The mixing of these two species was made possible by their genetic proximity. It is a very fast-growing perennial plant that can also be grown as an annual. It develops a rosette of 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) in diameter, with lanceolate, thick, slightly hairy, dark green, very shiny, and evergreen leaves. Smaller leaves also dress the floral spike, whose stem is brown-red. The flowering extends from May-June to October-November, without interruption. Hollow but sturdy stems emerge from the rosette to carry a wide and dense floral spike, composed of a multitude of horizontal flowers, very open, with a soft and flamboyant hue. Each flower is a gradation of fuchsia and orange, revealing a yellow throat speckled with soft orange and bordered by bright pink. The flowering is melliferous and nectariferous. This sterile variety does not exhaust itself in producing fruits, which allows it to bloom tirelessly.

Showing perfect performance in mild and rather cool climates, this Digiplexis is a plant that tolerates competition from other roots quite well.  It can be planted at the foot of hedges or shrub beds, where it will flower abundantly from spring to autumn. It pairs well with the blue bells of campanulas or Clematis 'New Love', the flowers of columbines, centaurea, or the small purple stars of asters in autumn. This sumptuous variety, with its very exotic charm, will allow you to enjoy its flowering for a long time in a large pot near the house, to be stored in a cold climate during winter.

Note: Attention, our young plug plants are professional products reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, replant and store them under cover (veranda, greenhouse, frame...) at a temperature above 14°C (57.2°F) for a few weeks before being planted outdoors once the risk of frost has gone.