By Lydia
London,
United Kingdom 
What should I do with my foxgloves?
I have large crowns of leaves from last summer which are all now rotting, mulching into the soil, dying etc and they are looking awful. Should I cut all the old leaves off?
8 Jan, 2011
Answers
Erm, Mg & Lydia, the regular foxglove is a biennial and will die after it has flowered. If you did not manage to collect seeds, don't worry as they will have self seeded all around. This is one of the good/bad points of foxgloves.
8 Jan, 2011
Oops! Though I'm sure some GoYers say their foxgloves last more than two years! Perhaps they just self seed and folk don't notice.
8 Jan, 2011
I'm sure 'some' of mine come back for a third year. I agree about the seedlings coming up everywhere. Get those out as soon as you see them if they're not where you want to grow foxgloves as they choke out other plants very effectively.
8 Jan, 2011
mine were only grown from plugs last year so have not flowered yet, so perhaps i should just leave them be for now (ugly as they are at the moment!)
9 Jan, 2011
I'd definitely leave them alone if they haven't flowered yet. As gardeners we have to accept that everything does not look perfect and pretty all the time.
9 Jan, 2011
The comment about perfection is very wise, Moongrower, and true for so many other things as well.
9 Jan, 2011
Indeed it is Beattie
9 Jan, 2011
I would leave them to protect the crown of the plant until the weather is milder.
8 Jan, 2011