Penstemon ID

Sorry about the hiccough above but the perfectly ordinary function of starting a new thread defeated me.

My first image below was grown from seed, (SRGC 12/13-2922) sown in early September 2013, labelled as Penstmen buckleyi. In his book "Penstomens" Bob Nold describes it has having ".... rather thick, leathery ovate or lanceolate leaves...". I'm not sure my plant has particularly leathery leaves though? The other thing is, and I feel a bit of a twit saying it, it was the only one in the seed pot that germinated so I suppose it could be a weed? Any advice welcomed.

My second image is a seedling (SRGC 12/13-2921) and again sown September 2013 labelled as P. berryi but I see from Bob's book that this should be P. newberryi ssp. berryi. Now I have five of these so it's not a weed this time, but I would welcome views as to whether it looks "right"?

Given that many of the species Penstemon are from dry areas and Devon, UK is hardly that to put it mildly I presume my seedlings are best kept under glass (frost free?) over the Winter before being planted out in Spring in a medium somewhat more suitable for them than a sure-to-be 'claggy' Devon garden soil? Again advice welcomed.

I've got quite into Penstemon species, and regardless of my climate hope to grow many more.

[quote=deesen]Sorry about the hiccough above but the perfectly ordinary function of starting a new thread defeated me.[/quote]

That must be a relative new thing, David.  I immediately thought it was yet another system error until I read it all. It seems people can browse our forum threads without pulling up an entire thread, and just read a synopsis, if you choose to re write a synopsis in that first  Preview box.  As you found out, just ignore it.  I do.

Regarding the penstemons, I love 'm, but don't know enough about them.

The plant on the left looks like Penstemon hirsutus. Buckleyi would have relatively thick, glaucous leaves. The plant on the right could possibly be P. richardsonii, or, um, you know, a weed. I've planted out more than my share of weeds, thinking I've germinated something wonderful. 

Here's a picture of Penstemon newberryi var. berryi.

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0910+0645

You can search the CalPhotos site for regular newberryi as well. The pictures on that site are more reliable than many others.

Bob

Penstemon hirsutus strikes again?  Why am I not surprised?

Well, my impression is that Penstemon hirsutus functions as a stand-in for other species. 

It's ungrowable here, so no loss. 

Bob

Many thanks for responding Bob. I shall grow all of them on and see what happens.

I thought I'd piggy-back onto David's topic to see if anyone here can give a conclusive (or near to conclusive) ID for this blue penstemon which I got as Penstemon heterophyllus,

cheers

fermi

Probably is P. heterophyllus. The leaves near the inflorescence should not be wider at the base. No beard on staminode. Saccate anthers would be the real diagnostic here. 

Thanks, Bob,

I'll check out one of the remaining flowers,

cheers

fermi

Sure. The saccate anthers (look like pouches) would probably indicate heterophyllus. 

I have referred to this plant previously in this thread above

This Penstemon was grown from seed (SRGC 12/13-2921 ) sown in September 2013, labelled P. berryi which I assumed to be P. newberryi ssp berryi and I have posted it as such on the SRGC Forum in 2015 and 2016 and in the next few days it will likely be flowering again. It's a shrubby grower and the height to the top of the stems is around 60cm, the leaves are strongly toothed and have red margins. I've always been suspicious about the naming though. The leaves are nothing like the pictures I've seen of P. n. ssp berryi or indeed of P. newberryi. I suppose it could be a hybrid and if it is I would be interested in what it's parents might have been, or it may be another species. 

Would be grateful for any help.

As a result of my cross-posting the above on the SRGC Forum a suggestion was made that my plant might be P. serrulatus. My response to this was that I had not found pictures of serrulatus with as strongly toothed leaves as my plant and neither had I see pictures or descriptions that refer to red margins on the leaves of this species.

I'm still open to help please.