| This short-lived perennial, often treated as an annual in colder climates, is grown primarily for it's pretty, tubular, two-lipped flowers (all colors but blue and yellow). The leaves are narrow and lance shaped (up to 2 inches long).
Penstemons like dry but rich soil. They are summer bloomers, attract hummingbirds, and will keep your garden exciting after the spring colors have faded away.
Penstemon hirsutus var. pygmaeus is a compact and mat-forming evergreen subshrub, bearing in summer, loose racemes of tubular-funnel-shaped, pale violet flowers with white throats. Leaves are purple-tinted. Grows 4 inches tall and wide. |