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Beautiful Penstemons Flowers for your Garden

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A beautiful flower for your garden

I first came across Penstemons in the Summer of 2008. We had just finished landscaping our garden by turning a small rectangle of grass into large flower beds and a sweeping path.

Penstemons were on show at the local market which once every few weeks in Summer was given over to flower sellers only. They caught our eye immediately and so a special place in our plot was found for them.

There are close to 200 varieties of Penstemon. All of them have interesting names, such as Penstemon abietinus Pennell Firleaf beardtongue or Penstemon atwoodii Welsh Kaiparowits beardtongue. One of my favourites is Penstemon newberryi Gray mountain pride , pride-of-the-mountains
image credit Wendy Usually Wanders

penstemon garden-flowers brearded-tongue

Close up Penstemon blooms from a Shropshire garden June 2010

Growing Penstemons

The American Penstemon Society

Penstemons are very popular in the USA. The American Penstemon Society was founded in 1946 taking an interest in over 280 species of Penstemon.

Their site is packed full of information about to cultivate this beautiful plant and includes links to an enthusiasts forum too.

Dental Penstemons

A garden flower that cures tooth ache!

Did you know Native Americans used Penstemons to soothe toothache?

Penstemon Tweets

Funny Name for a Beautiful Garden Plant

image credit Graceful Gardens

The common name for Penstemon is Bearded Tongue

Originally from North America and Asia it is a huge species with over 400 varieties.

Growing Penstemons in your garden

This book will explain everything you need to know about growing Penstemons in your garden

Gardners Guide to Growing Penstemons

by: David Way

Amazon Price: $20.00 (as of 06/03/2012)

Penstemons in our garden

Believe it or not in 2008 this was just a patch of lawn.

We planted Penstemons on the left hand side of the path. They are directly in fornt of you as you look down the garden. The first year of planting they were quite small but in 2009 they have gone crazy.

Blowout Penstemon nearly blown out!

A species under threat

Penstemon haydenii the so called Blowout Penstemon was listed as endangered in 1987.

It has a limited range and is specifically found in the Sandhills of Nebraska USA.

Penstemon hadenii

Picture from US Forest Service summary

PENSTEMON SPECIOSA TRIPHYLLUM BOTANICAL PRINT FLOWERS

Pensteblogs

Hike takes people to state's only endangered plant: University of Wyoming graduate student Emma Stewart smells a blowout penstemon in 2011. The blowout penstemon is Wyoming's only endangered plant and one of the only penstemons that is scented. (Photo by Bonnie Heidel, Wyoming Natural Diversity ...
Colorful, unusual scarlet penstemon native to Arkansas: Scarlet Penstemon is a rare wildflower that has considerable potential for use in Arkansas gardens. FAYETTEVILLE ? Wildflowers have great appeal amongst gardeners yet, as a class of plants, they remain marginalized by the nursery and greenhouse trade.
FLORA: Our spectacular Piedmont: By Staff Penstemons by the thousands are now in peak flower at Mason Farm. Photo by Ken Moore By Ken Moore This week I was planning a Flora story inspired by the pressed-flower specimen in Jock Lauterer's Great Aunt Myra Baldwin's 1943 diary described ...
June Nature Almanac: Orchids abound around Boulder County: Marsh marigolds and globeflowers bloom in wetlands below treeline, and prickly pear cactus and various penstemons bloom on the plains. Fireflies glimmer in low-elevation wetlands as frogs croak, stutter and snore. White pelicans float on east Boulder ...

Penstemons on eBay

Penstemon Tubes

Penstemons & Clematis: by bucslim | video info

1 rating | 1,941 views

automatically generated by YouTube

Helpful Penstemon Links

Royal Horticultural Society: The RHS tells us about Penstemons and how to grow them.
Passionate about Penstemons: Hayloft plants
How To Grow Penstemons: Some neat tips
Back Yard Gardener: Using Penstemons as annuals rather than perennials
Penstemons: Robert Nolds e-book preview

Penstemon Photos

Bee inside a Beardtongue flower by Dendroica cerulea

Colorado Monument flowers by iagoarchangel

20111027_VanDusenBG_PenstemonDigitalis_Cutler_P1160802 by wlcutler

20111027_VanDusenBG_PenstemonDigitalis_Cutler_P1160800 by wlcutler

automatically generated by Flickr

Penstemon Blooms 2010

Penstemons from a Shropshire garden June 2010

Jigsaw of Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel - reaching up to eat Penstemon Newberryi Flowers

Flowery Thoughts

Do you use Penstemons in your garden? What varieties of Penstemons can be found in your garden? How do you rate Penstemons as a garden flower?

Reply

VickiSims May 31, 2012 @ 11:06 pm | delete

Penstemons are one of my favorite flowers - I especially like the rock penstemon which is a native plant in my area. It is a bonus that they attract hummingbirds and bees.

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Graceonline Nov 3, 2011 @ 11:04 am | delete

I do love penstemons, always a colorful addition to a garden, adding texture and attracting pollinators. Lovely lens.

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Sylvestermouse Jun 9, 2011 @ 9:35 am | delete

What a beautiful flower! I love planting flowers that draw hummingbirds. Most excellent!

Reply

Jewelsofawe Jun 4, 2011 @ 5:04 pm | delete

This is a pretty flower. That is cool it was used to soothe a toothache. Blessing this lens!

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Koupie Jun 2, 2011 @ 7:20 am | delete

I love this beautiful plant, and have never heard of it. I must hunt for it now :) Lot's of great information, thank you!
Featuring on my Strawberries and Cream English Daisies lens.
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