Excelsior mixed is a mixture of foxglove flowers in different shades of white, light purple and dark purple with speckled insides. This very beautiful spirals with their carateristic bell-shaped flowers is a very attractive eye-catcher in any garden. It likes a sunny spot with half shade. It flowers in the sowing year when sown early enough. Very attractive to bees and butterflies. Be carefull: all parts of this plant are posonious. Hardy biennial. Height: 140 cm.
Indoor sowing: beginning of March - end of April
Outdoor sowing: middle of May - June
Germination: 10 - 21 days
Germination temp.: 13 - 15 °C
Sowing depth: shallow - ½ cm
Plant distance: 30 cm
Sowing distance in rows: 25 cm
Plant position: sunny - half shade
Flowering period: May - October
Sow indoors for flowering in the year of sowing from the beginning of March till the end of April. Sow in trays filled with fertilized and well drained moist potting soil. Gently press the seeds in the soil and cover them with a light sprinkling of soil, because foxglove is a light germinator. Cover the trays with a lid or some clingfilm. Keep moist during germination. Put the trays away at a temperature between 13 - 15 °C. The seedlings emerge after approx. 10 - 21 days.
Remove the lid or clingfilm when the seedlings emerge. Transplant the seedlings to seperate pots, when they're large enough to handle. Put them in a cooler room to acclamatize. Put them outdoors in the beginning of May, when there's no longer any danger of nightsfrosts on a sunny plot with some shade and free draining soil. Keep 30 cm apart.
Sow outdoors for flowering in the following year after sowing in the middle of May till July in a well-prepared seedbed. Sow on a sunny plot with some shade and well manured and well drained soil. Sow in rows approx. 25 cm apart. Sow shallow and rake the seeds carefully in the soil, because foxglove is a light germinator. Keep moist and weedfree during germinations. The seedlings emerge after approx. 10 - 21 days. Transplant the seedlings to their permanent spot, when they're large enough to handle. Keep 30 cm apart. Foxglove is a selfseeding plant. It's very attractive to bees and butterflies. Be carefull: all parts of this plant are toxic!
