Calandrinia is it?

Hi Fran, googling around it does indeed seem to match Calandrinia grandiflora.  My first instinct was that the plant is a Penstemon, but could be a Calandrinia; here's a link showing the oblong leaves, with more photo links below:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/93829/

Purely from memory but I think it's an annual.

Calandrinia grandiflora is listed as a "drought resistant perennial" on numerous California sites, but that's California.  Found one site that listed it as a Zone 7 tender perennial. Perhaps the annual/perennial characteristic has more to do with hardiness and climate. This plant is new to me, so I'm looking forward to discovering more about it.

Same here, Mark.  Perhaps it is a biennial as it has taken a couple of years to get to this point.  Somewhere on Dave's Garden it says it gets to be three feet high.  I can hardly wait for it to bloom - it is supposed to be a July, Aug. Sept. bloomer - till frost.  No buds yet but the foliage looks quite lush.  Have been putting baggies on buds (Dahlias) and seed pods (Zephyranthes) so the squirrels don't collect them before I get a chance to.  Oh, the joys of gardening!  Fran

A few pictures here from plants I grew in 2008 from seed, I think from the SRGC Exchange. They flowered once and then met their demise! They grew to a couple of feet high on lax (very!) stems.

David:  They're lovely.  The flower is similar to another non-hardy succulent I grow - not sure of its name but the leaves and habit are quite different.  Fran

Howey wrote:

The flower is similar to another non-hardy succulent I grow - not sure of its name but the leaves and habit are quite different.  Fran

Might that be Talinum paniculatum, Fran?