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:
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:
Comments
Todd Boland
Re: Penstemons 2011
Mon, 06/20/2011 - 3:01pmI 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. (not verified)
Re: Penstemons 2011
Mon, 06/27/2011 - 8:46pmThanks, 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.j... (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-taxo...
Penstemon secundiflorus:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PESE11
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos...
Trond Hoy
Re: Penstemons 2011
Mon, 06/27/2011 - 10:55pmNice 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!
Richard T. Rodich
Re: Penstemons 2011
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 8:11amMisidentified 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. (not verified)
Re: Penstemons 2011
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 9:29pmGee, I don't think so either!
Here's Penstemon confertus, another native plant:
Trond Hoy
Re: Penstemons 2011
Thu, 06/30/2011 - 1:10amQuite. Honestly I am not very beset of names but hope they are nice-looking and blue ;D
Lori S. (not verified)
Re: Penstemons 2011
Fri, 07/08/2011 - 8:34pmPenstemon speciosus var. kennedyi:
Penstemon whippleanus:
Penstemon
utahensisalamosensis:Lori S. (not verified)
Re: Penstemons 2011
Sat, 08/06/2011 - 9:28pmPenstemon 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.
Anne Spiegel
Re: Penstemons 2011
Sun, 08/07/2011 - 6:52amThat 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. (not verified)
Re: Penstemons 2011
Sun, 08/07/2011 - 8:59amI bought it years ago, probably from Beaver Creek (or whoever it was that supplied a local greenhouse with alpines).
Doreen Mear
Re: Penstemons 2011
Fri, 12/09/2011 - 11:12pmThis 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. (not verified)
Re: Penstemons 2011
Fri, 12/09/2011 - 11:15pmWelcome, Doreen! It definitely looks like P. hirsutus, with its pinched-shut mouth.
Mark McDonough
Re: Penstemons 2011
Sat, 12/10/2011 - 5:55amHello 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 Mear
Re: Penstemons 2011
Sat, 12/10/2011 - 8:12pmLori 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! ;)