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Beard Tongue (Penstemon Barbatus) is an upright perennial that can be planted in zones 4-9. They can withstand humidity and heat and prefer full sun, although they will also fare well in bright afternoon shade--pay attention to their stalks because when not receiving enough sun they will start to flop over.
Tubular flowers can be found on the Penstemon plants in either red, pink, purple, or white, and they will be sure to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. They can grow anywhere from 18-24 inches high and 12-24 inches wide. You'll want to plant them in fertile soil 12-18 inches apart in the spring and mulch them to retain moisture. Water them thoroughly when the soil has dried out as they require a medium amount of water. They also like to be placed in well drained, rich acidic soil.
Beard Tongues are great container plants since they are fairly narrow, but they also look nice placed in groups within your flowerbeds. Reblooming will occure if you deadhead the spent flowers. Cut back the plant once you've had the first frost in your area.
Seeds should be sown outside in late fall or early spring. When started indoors the soil should maintain a 55 degree temperature. You should notice germanation occuring within 30 days.
These are Cedar Hill flowers!!!!
Penstemon "Pennington Gem"
Penstemon digitalis "Husker's Red"
Penstemon "Cambridge"
From: Beautiful Western Maryland...zone 6 | Registered: May 2003
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but I sure do think those other two colors are very pretty!!!!!
I do know they are a very easy plant to grow.. With no help at all during the summer... I never watered mine at all, other than mother nature doing it for me.. and we had some really hot days...
bbbbbbbbb Weezie
Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it. - Bible - Hebrews 13:2
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My soil is just a tad clayish....It did great, and then this year it just never came back..neither did my Cardinal Plant(I think that was it's name)....lol
From: Beautiful Western Maryland...zone 6 | Registered: May 2003
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I'm glad I read this thread I have one the huskers red.. I need to move it to my more acid soil area right now it's in an area that only gets a couple hours of morning sun and that's it and the soil is nutural.. will it transplant well?? It's fairly new about 6 inch in diam' and hasn't begun to "reach upward yet, now I believe it's in the wrong soil and site.
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