Thanks to Craig Fraiser ( http://www.pbase.com/cmf46 ) for the identification. Flowers are large - about 2 inches (3 - 4cm or so) across, and close to the ground.
It is quite different from digitalis - the usual "false foxglove" here is yellow with very large flowers about 3 inches long, like these. It's really not similar to digitalis except for the tubular flower shape.