Botanical name: Digitalis purpurea    
Folk names: Fairies thimbles, fairy bells

Type: Biennial

Wildlife: Nectar for long-tongued garden bumblebees. Blue tits spotted balancing on stems when in seed. Food plant for several moths including angle shades and lesser yellow underwing.

Flowers: June to September

Decorative merit: Tubular, bell-shaped, pinkish purple flowers 4-5cm long, with white and purple-spotted speckles on the inside. One-sided tier of ten to forty hanging flowers on tall stems. Rosette of soft, downy grey-green leaves in first year, flowers and stems in second year.  Up to 150cm high. Sheds seeds nearby to create naturalistic drifts if soil is well-drained.

Where: Sun or shade. Back of border, along a fence, wall or hedge or in the dappled shade of trees.

Culture: It was believed that fairies gave a fox bells to wear as magic slippers, ensuring a silent approach to the chickens in the poultry yard!

Donate seeds to Exeter Seed Bank