Penstemons 2011

[Lori S.]

Penstemon season is starting up here...
I think this is Penstemon davidsonii.  Can anyone confirm that?  (If not... arrghh, more keying out to do!)  


The beautiful blue of Penstemon cyananthus:
   

[Todd Boland]

I have P. davidsonii...the flowers and foliage are quite different...glossier and more narrow foliage.  the foliage on yours looks like P. fruticosus.

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Todd.  I'll pull out the key and check it out further... I'd better get a move on before the bloom ends.

Penstemon procerus, a local wild form with much narrower leaves than some of the commercially-distributed forms:
   
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PEPR2&photoID=pepr2_002_avp.jpg   (Wow, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the first photo at USDA Plants is grossly misidentified!)
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Penstemon+procerus

Penstemon secundiflorus:
 
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PESE11
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Penstemon+secundiflorus&title_tag=Penstemon+secundiflorus

[Hoy]

Nice Penstemons! I have planted some seedlings of Penstemon, from seed this spring, but they all look the same except one despite I got several kind of seed in the seedex!

[RickR]

Misidentified Penstemon seed in the various seed exchanges is a problem.  Fortunately, there are always good people on these forums to help ID them, or at least know it is not what it is labeled.  I picked up this seedling grown by a Chapter member as Penstemon procerus.  I snatched it up, but I don't think it looks like procerus...

[Lori S.]

Gee, I don't think so either!

Here's Penstemon confertus, another native plant:
 

[Hoy]

Misidentified Penstemon seed in the various seed exchanges is a problem.  Fortunately, there are always good people on these forums to help ID them, or at least know it is not what it is labeled. 

Quite. Honestly I am not very beset of names but hope they are nice-looking and blue

[Lori S.]

Penstemon speciosus var. kennedyi:
 

Penstemon whippleanus:


Penstemon utahensis alamosensis:
 

[Lori S.]

Penstemon lyallii (from mid-July):
 

A hybrid(?) that puts on a great display and show of varying colour throughout the yard:
      

Penstemon barbatus 'Coccineus'...  these used to grow these a lot better than this.  Oh well.
 

[Spiegel]

That Penstemon speciosus v kennedyi is a really lovely plant, Lori.  Do you recall where you got the seed?  Yours looks like the true plant.

[Lori S.]

I bought it years ago, probably from Beaver Creek (or whoever it was that supplied a local greenhouse with alpines).

[Doreen]

This is Penstemon hirsutus (or at least that's the name I bought it under), growing in a deep raised bed in full sun. Top notch plant for the garden, covering itself in flowers for about 3 weeks in early summer, spreading gently but never becoming a thug, and needing no attention except a haircut after flowering.
 

[Lori S.]

Welcome, Doreen!  It definitely looks like P. hirsutus, with its pinched-shut mouth.

[McDonough]

Hello Doreen, a belated welcome to the NARGS Forum from me as well.  A fine looking Penstemon hirsutus there!  Your plant, being so short and floriferous, corresponds to what was known as P. hirsutus var. pygmaeus (and var. minimus), but neither variety is officially recognized. The dwarf forms of hirsutus go around as P. hirsutus pygmaeus or 'Pygmaeus', although technically incorrect, such names are horticulturally useful to differentiate dwarf forms from the regular tall forms (typically about 2' or 60 cm tall).

In seed exchanges penstemons are often misidentified, with P. hirsutus commonly sent out as other species.

[Doreen]

Lori and Mark: Thank you both for the welcome, for confirming the i.d. and the additional info, thus saving me struggling to check it out myself!