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Where the garden meets the wild |
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PENSTEMON BEARDTONGUE Plantaginaceae (Snapdragon family) |
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| Warning. Reading beyond this paragraph will
expose you to Penstemania,
a madness for which there is no cure. Penstemaniacs spend their lives
enjoying, studying and growing Penstemon plants. There are more than 270 species,
all native to North or Central America.
Penstemons make great garden plants, but they're almost impossible to find at garden centres. For a few wonderful years, our dryland ally Jim Swayne enabled us to offer you more than 200 species of Penstemon. Jim has moved on to other pursuits, however, and we have settled down to growing only species that thrive unsheltered in our rainy west-coast climate. Many images from our former Penstemon gallery are now on the Penstemon-L pictures site. You'll find our list of Penstemon Resources here. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Penstemon cardwellii Howell.
Cardwell's penstemon. Our plants ~ shown here in our garden ~ descend from seeds collected on Mount St. Helens.
Pot (4"/ 10 cm). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50.
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Penstemon davidsonii var. menziesii (D.D.
Keck) Cronquist, Kyuquot form. Kyuquot penstemon. This variety is one of the handsomest evergreen penstemons
and the Kyuquot form, which we are proud to introduce, is very
good-looking indeed. It descends from a cutting we
collected in the salt-spray zone at Kyuquot, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British
Columbia. Shown here in our garden, it is particularly robust and
floriferous, with exceptionally round and leathery leaves, and spreads
well. Height to 15 cm (6"). Zone 6. Award
of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1993 (to var. menziesii
in general).
Pot ( 4"/ 10 cm). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Penstemon fruticosus
(Pursh) Greene. Shrubby
penstemon. Our plants ~ shown in our garden ~ descend from
a cutting collected near Lillooet, British Columbia, by Brian Hutchings.
Pot ( 4"/ 10 cm). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Penstemon ovatus. |
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| Penstemon procerus. | |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Penstemon richardsonii
var. richardsonii
Douglas ex Lindley. Richardson's penstemon. Our plants descend from seeds collected in the
dry, alkaline Myra Canyon,
near Kelowna, British Columbia. Since then, a forest fire has
blackened the collecting site. Our plants are growing with tufa and
gravel mixed with calcium. On acid soil
the flowers are mauve instead of hot pink.
Not available this year. |
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Photograph © Louise Parsons |
Penstemon rupicola
Award of Garden Merit (Royal
Horticultural Society) 1993
Pot ( 4"/ 10 cm). In Canada, C$8.00; elsewhere US$7.25. |
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Photograph © |
Penstemon
serrulatus
Pot ( 4"/ 10 cm). In Canada, C$4.00; elsewhere US$3.50. |
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PENSTEMON
RESOURCES
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