It is only the erect stems which bear flowers; the
creeping ones are barren. They do useful work, however, for they form
fresh roots, as we have seen the stalks of some other plants do. In this
way the whole bank beside the lane has become covered with the pretty
plant.
The Periwinkle is a comparatively small plant. The last flower--the
Foxglove--that we shall see at Willow Farm is quite different. It is a
very tall plant. It is generally described as growing from three to five
feet high, but I have seen a stem of eight or nine feet. We shall find
it growing on the hedgebank in Little Orchard, and it also often grows
in woods.
Some plants, as we know, are annuals, others are perennials. The
Foxglove is neither; it is a biennial--that is a two years' plant. If
you sow Foxglove seed you will have no flowers the first year, only a
root and a great bunch of leaves. In the second year tall stems which
bear the flowers will appear. In the autumn after it has flowered the
Foxglove generally dies, though sometimes it may live for another year,
or even two. Foxgloves, of course, will reproduce themselves by seed, as
annuals and perennials do.
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