PENSTEMONS ARE PERFECTION

THIS NORTH AMERICAN GENUS OFFERS INTRIGUING FLOWERS ON DROUGHT-TOLERANT PLANTS

- AMY GRISAK

Increased breeding in penstemons has produced long-blooming cultivars like the Harlequin series (shown here, Harlequin 'Pink'), developed at Terra Nova Nurseries, where Chuck Pavlich often finds bumblebees dozing in the beardtongues.

It would be nice to have a bumper sticker that reads I Brake for Penstemons. Because if there are penstemons growing beside a trail or in a garden, I have to stop. It doesn't matter if we're on a tight schedule for a long hike, or if the best angle for a photo takes a bit of precarious maneuvering along a drop-off. Their eye-catching forms are that hard to resist.

"I think penstemons are one of the best native plants we have in North America," says Dr. Stephen Love, PhD., professor emeritus with the University of Idaho, bulletin editor for the American Penstemon Society and co-author of The Heart of Penstemon Country: A Natural History of Penstemons in the Utah Region.

Palmer's penstemon, native of the Southwest, can stand seven feet tall in bloom. Meanwhile the aptly named low beardtongue hugs the ground.

"They're generally a Western species, and most of those are dryland, but there are penstemons for every place." "They are an entirely North American genus, from Canada to Guatemala and across the North American continent," he adds. With approximately 280 species, Penstemon earns its standing as the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to this continent. Not surprisingly, the size, structure and flower colors range drastically, depending upon the region.