ALBINO P. jamesii

Barbara wrote:

The native Penstemon on my property is P. jamesii. A white one started opening today. It is quite striking and I'd like to propagate it. Does anyone have experience self-fertilizing penstemons? Should I isolate it with shade cloth? Try fertilizing it with a paint brush? Am I likely to develop a white seed strain? Should I just let the bees do their thing?

I've noticed that some Penstemons aren't self-fertile, so am apprehensive about interfering in the process.  :-\

Thanks!

Very cool that a white form has shown up for you, one of the more fun aspects of gardening!  The first thing I'm thinking, I'D LOVE TO SEE A PHOTO of your white form :-) (hint hint).  I guess I'd let the bees do the work, they're pretty good at it, but collect all seed from the white-flowered plant, then make it a point to sow and grow it on, to see if you get white-flowered progeny and what percentage of such.  After a few years, you might have enough of the white-flowered strain, to single it out or get it into the hands of a nursery person, or whatever.

I'll bet that the white trait is recessive so the progeny (F1-generation) will not be white since they are heterozygotic unless you have self-fertilized the white one. But crosses between the F1 plants even if they are colored should yield about 25% white maybe, and they should be homozygotic and breed true.

Photos coming! I still use film that then has to be digitized. It is very pretty, but then I love the flower size to plant size ratio of this one.