Monty Don recommends sowing this cottage garden staple now for a Chelsea-inspired display next summer
The elegant flower spikes that featured throughout this year's show gardens are easy to grow from seed – so long as you start them now
At RHS Chelsea this year, it wasn’t a rare exotic plant or high-tech garden design that captured attention, but something far more familiar. Monty Don has been championing the return of biennials for years – and at Chelsea 2026, they were everywhere in the show gardens.
Among them, one plant in particular kept catching the eye in multiple medal-winning gardens, with white foxgloves appearing throughout several of the medal-winning gardens and proving that this classic cottage garden favourite is having a major moment.
Varieties such as Digitalis purpurea 'Alba' and Digitalis 'Dalmatian White' helped create the soft, romantic planting style that dominated this year's RHS Chelsea show gardens. And we have good news for anyone feeling inspired to recreate the look at home, as Monty Don says now is exactly the right time to get started on these pretty biennials.
Why Monty Don says now is the time to sow biennials
Writing on his blog, Monty explains that summer is the ideal time to sow biennials, including foxgloves. 'Now is the time to sow wallflowers, honesty, foxgloves, forget-me-nots or sweet rocket for a lovely display next spring and summer,' he says.
Unlike annual flowers, which grow, flower and die within a single season, biennials take a little longer to reach their full potential.
'Biennials differ from annuals, which grow, flower and set seed all in one growing season, in that they grow fast from seed and develop strong roots and foliage in one season and then flower in the next,' Monty explains.
Shop my favourite biennials
For gardeners, this patience pays off, as 'biennials operate on a patient but highly rewarding two-year cycle,' says Christopher O'Donoghue, gardening expert at Gardens Revived.
A gardener with over a decade of experience under his belt, Christopher set up Gardens Revived with his brother, Andrew, in 2018 to create a thriving family business. He has since worked on residential gardens, listed buildings and gardens, award-winning RHS flower show gardens, and large estates with some exceeding 70 acres – many with historical significance.
'Unlike standard annuals that rush to flower and die in a single season, biennials pace themselves to give you a massive payoff,' he continues.
'Because they already have an established root system waiting out the winter, you get a spectacular, mature flower show much earlier in the year than you would with spring-sown annuals.'
Of course, it's easy to see why foxgloves became one of the defining flowers of RHS Chelsea this year; their tall, elegant spires add instant vertical interest to planting schemes while their tubular flowers are a magnet for bees and other pollinators. The white varieties in particular bring a softness and luminosity that works beautifully in both sunny and partially shaded gardens.
'I love foxgloves as they provide unmatched height and structure – and bees love them,' says Christopher. 'But I think what made white foxgloves so effective in this year's Chelsea gardens was their ability to lift darker planting schemes. White flowers catch the light beautifully, especially in shady areas, while the tall flower spikes create a natural focal point without feeling formal.'
How to sow foxgloves and other biennials
According to Monty Don, foxgloves and other biennials are straightforward to grow from seed; all you have to do is sow their seeds thinly in a seed tray and cover them lightly with vermiculite (like Westland's Gro-Sure vermiculite, £10 at Amazon) before leaving them to germinate.
'When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into pots or plugs and grow them on so the young plants are ready to plant out in early autumn where you want them to flower next May,' he advises.
Christopher recommends choosing a spot that mimics the naturalistic planting seen at Chelsea, suggesting you 'plant in drifts through borders rather than as isolated specimens'.
'Foxgloves in particular look most effective weaving through grasses, like the striking pink muhly grass, from £7.49 at Crocus, ferns such as the sculptural Japanese lace fern, from £7.49 at Crocus, and cottage garden perennials like Delphiniums ('Highlander Sweet sensation', from £12.99 at Thompson & Morgan, make great cut flowers), where their flower spikes can emerge naturally from the surrounding planting,' he says.
Shop the prettiest foxglove varieties
You won't be disappointed with this new foxglove if you like to see immediate results, as it will nearly always flower in its first year (sometimes even with a second flush!).
Oure white not your vibe? These speckled two-tone flowers appear on sturdy stems throughout the summer and are very appealing to bees.
The beauty of these flowers in shades of pink may be short-lived, but it will self-seed freely in the right spot.
Whichever you opt for, just be sure to bear in mind that foxgloves are toxic if eaten, so gardeners with young children or pets should take care when deciding where to plant them.
FAQs
Do biennials only last 2 years?
While it is commonly believed that biennials only last two years, that isn't exactly right; the individual plant is typically a two-year cycle, but that doesn’t mean your garden only gets them for two years.
After flowering, the original plant usually dies, but many biennials self-seed freely, creating new plants year after year. And, as Monty Don points out in his blog, this has plenty of benefits, including the fact that biennials establish early, survive winter, and then 'quickly produce flowers in spring without having to wait for the plant to grow first'. No wonder gardeners value them for reliable seasonal displays, eh?
What does it mean when a plant is biennial?
A biennial is a plant that completes its life cycle over two growing seasons rather than one. As Monty Don explains in his blog, biennials 'grow fast from seed and develop strong roots and foliage in one season and then flower in the next'.
In practice, that means you sow them one year, they establish and survive winter, and then they flower the following spring or summer before setting seed and completing their life cycle.
Honestly, if this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show proved anything, it's that biennials like foxgloves are far more than a traditional cottage garden plant. Follow Monty Don's advice, then, and sow them now; if you do, you could be enjoying one of the most stylish flowers of the season in your own garden next spring.
