#digiplexis

[wiley-treehouse-gardens]

Treehouse Gardens

[tggardens]

Operation Replant and Rebuild: Meet the Digiplexis hybrid to take the place of the eaten Dahlias. Cousin to a similar looking plant, the Foxglove. From my reading online, the squirrels should know to stay away. And if they don't, well, either way the problem will be solved eventually, and I win. And they are such *pretty* flowers. We are approximately zone 8, hopefully this will pernennialize and we can have it for a few years.

[bourbonandbackseams]

 Love my new hybrid from San Francisco Botanical Nursery – Such is the case with digiplexis ‘Illumination Flame’, a new intergeneric foxglove.

Bred by Charles Valin at the UK breeding company Thompson & Morgan, ‘Illumination Flame’ resulted from a cross between the common foxglove and isoplexis, a Mediterranean shrub with unusual orange flowers. The resulting hybrid is truly intermediate in habit, with bushy basal branching, eventually forming a woody trunk and spikes of elegant, rosy-orange flowers. The real breakthrough, however, is the fact that this variety will not just flower for a few weeks, as most foxgloves would; ‘Illumination Flame’ flowers non-stop from late spring through hard frost in the autumn.

[ruthbancroftgarden]

 Digitalis ‘Illumination Flame’

This plant is a hybrid between 2 species of Digitalis; D. purpurea from Europe and D. canariensis from the Canary Islands. Its purple, orange and yellow flowers are very attractive. This is the first year we have grown it, so we don’t know how long the flowers will last. Its Canary Islands parent, D. canariensis, is sometimes put in a separate genus (Isoplexis), and if this classification is followed then the plant would be called ×Digiplexis ‘Illumination Flame’.

-Brian

[wallacegardens]

Postcards from the Hedge. 

A Foxglove with Lipstick? 

Imagine the perfect non-stop summer bloomer with enormous impact all by itself, which is also deer proof. Meet Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame,' a cross between Digitalis purpurea (foxglove) and Isoplexis canariensis (Canary Island foxglove). This new hybrid blends the qualities of both plants, thanks to the efforts of Charles Valin, plant breeder at Thompson & Morgan. It received the Best New Plant Award at the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show (2012), as well as the Greenhouse Grower's Award of Excellence in 2013. 

Multiple side branches emanating from this bushy basal-branched shrub produce flame-colored flower stalks all summer long, even into the fall. Because the plants are sterile, they don't waste energy trying to go to seed, and this results in fast-growing, floriferous shrubs with vibrant, vertical flower stalks to 3' in height in shades of watermelon, fuchsia and mango. And while that may sound delicious, Digiplexis has the same toxins as its relative, Digitalis, so all parts of the plant are poisonous. If you use the plant in cut flower arrangements, dispose of the water safely because the toxins will seep from the stalks into the water. The foliage may also cause skin irritation, so handle it with caution. 

Digiplexis can be used in seasonal color beds as a backdrop to other annuals, or grown in large containers. It will take part shade to full sun, and blooms from April until the first frost.