OOOH! Thanks for pointing out that article!
Sounds like it was written by somebody from High Country Gardens (I haven't read it yet) so they probably know what they are talking about!
Penstemons
Great article! This statement concerns me "it is important to keep a few cultural considerations in mind when bringing them into our gardens:" I have mine planted with all the other plants. My soil does tend to be rich and mulched. I found in direct sunlight mine bloom. If I'm having a blooming problem should I try to find a Full Sun spot..well at least 6 hours? It's only about 3 hours of direct sun where some of them are. The stapleford gem is HUGE and growing all over the place but no blooms :-(
Nice little article. I guess I did pretty good with my Penstemon palmeri lasting 4 years from seed.
I think my penstemon are rondo mix and have survived for 4 years, but I have not found any seeds.
Am I not looking in the right place?
any help welcome.
I would like to find seed because of what was said about the offspring doing better.
gardengus, I'm so glad you mentioned P.barbatus Rondo mix- that's the other kind I have! That name just rang a bell. Mine aren't producing seeds that I can see either, and I think it should be pretty easy to see the pods if they were developing. Mine aren't as tall as they should be (about 8"), but I've seen blooms from most of them.
tabasco, you are correct, the article is written by a fellow from High Country Gardens.
Kim, I tried some of each of my seedlings in various spots, and those in full sun are the happiest. Sounds like that would definitely be a good idea for Stapleford Gem.
The "Rondos" in our Arboretum rock garden are 8+ years old. I was speaking about P. palmeri because David S. said they usually last 2 or 3 years. Some species are just naturally short lived.
Lefty, that's good to know. Hopefully these I have will beef up a bit. Do you know if P.smallii is typically short lived? I had some from Bluestone a few years ago that were gorgeous for a couple of years, then just sort of fizzled out. Oddly, I never found any seedlings. I've started more from seed and they're looking good, I expect to see blooms next year.
I have some plants from seed of P. smallii. They are 5years old. But I am not entirely sold that that is the species they really are.
I collected seeds from my penstemons. I have seeds from Eastern penstemon (penstemon huirsutus), Foothills penstemon "True Blue" (Penstemon heterophlus), Small's penstemon (Penstemon smallii), for postage if anybody would like to try to grow some of them. They are open pollunated. I only got a few seeds from Iron Maiden and Husker red so I can't share those. Let me know if you want some.
Don (DEMinPA)
Panayoti Kelaidis says that for the most penstemon crosses are usually duds with muddy color. I do have one happenstance cross volunteer that seems fairly good.
Penstemon hirsutus var. pygmaeus x P. cobaea
DEMinPA ,
sent you a D-mail
Perhaps this should be under the "weird weather" thread, but one of my penstemons is budding up. Tres bizah!
Don...sent you a dmail
P. Smallii
Karen
I've also grown a few Penstemons from seed. I find a lot of them took 3 years from seed to flowers. Here is a link to my Penstemon listings in my journal. http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/Meredith79/74191/
Gorgeous, Meredith. I didn't get any penstemon seeds from the recent Summerhill seed co-op, now I think I made a mistake..... shoot!
I've decided that buying a single plant of something probably costs the same as buying seeds and growing them to blooming size. Then you can enjoy the plant plus save the seeds and try to grow a whole bunch more plants for about the same cost. Only problem is some Penstemon seeds are hard to save. They seem to take forever to be ready to harvest and then once they are ready they open quickly and you miss them!
I wonder ... I noticed that the plants I had in Phoenix were much more likely to self-sow than produce viable seeds. I wonder if it's a freshness issue or perhaps stratification...?
If they are self-sowing, then they are certainly viable. If you had trouble starting them yourself, it was likely due to the method. Real penstemon experts (e.g. Bob Nold), on different forums, say that outdoor natural stratification is the most effective, that is, pot up your seeds and let them sit outside through the fluctuating temperatures of the winter.
Unlike most seed, Penstemon seeds are said to germinate better with age. This advice comes from Panayoti Kelaidis.
Penstemons are definitely one of the harder seeds to germinate. I have some links on that penstemon journal - to seed starting info on each of the ones I've grown from seed. Some notes are better than others. I know off the top of my head that I've done best using mother natures natural temps. except I cheated a bit by germinating them in regular seed starting packs and trays, but leaving them on an unheated porch. I am not a winter person and often kill seedlings with neglect when doing ws jugs. I just hate the cold so much I don't want to check on the containers until it's warm and tehy've dried out. lol When I keep them on my porch I don't have to worry about them being out in the snow drifts or their tops blowing off and all that, plus I bring them in under lights once they have a high germination rate. So I tend to have higher sucess. They did germinate much earlier than I'd expect too, around mid March or so.
many penstemon species germinate at 40F.
Great Penstemons Meredith! And you've done such a nice job in record keeping.
Pagancat, I wonder if it was just that the environment in your previous garden was just more like their native environment? I've found them easy to start by wintersowing (so far), but haven't found any self sown seedlings.
Well, and these were at least desert adapted cultivars, if not native - the P. eatonii, P. pseudospectabilis, and P.barbatus... I think I might have forgotten some. It was a a bright coral, pink, orange and white spot of color - I called it my 70's bed.
Yes around mid March the temps are usually within 10 degrees of 40 here. That seems to be the magical temperature range. : ) It also was the magical temp for Sidalcea, and Lunaria for me.
Hi Gemini, thanks I try to keep good records but some of those were from a while back before I realized all of what info was important, so I am missing stuff I would like to have.
Pagancat I bet that bed looked great!
Penstemons are such cool little plants especially when a hummingbird is sticking their beak in the little flowers. It is amazing how well they are designed for eachother. The Eatonii I grew from seed bloomed for the first time this year and actually only two of about 5 plants bloomed, which was a bummer because it was their third year from seed. So some of them look like they'll be taking at least 4 years to bloom from seed. The Hirsutus were the easiest for me. Unless you count the Red Rocks I grew this year. They bloomed a little this year but I am hoping they'll be perennial here and be even better next year. They weren't very red - more like a purple red. Still nice but I think the hummingbirds like the Eatonii the best so far. Barbatus a close second. : )
Low fertility and not too much watering will encourage bloom of species penstemons.
I know it's weird because people think of new england being wet but my yard has very dry sandy soil so I have no problems keeping Penstemons nice and dry and low fertility. I have to bring in soil to have any areas to grow veggies or things that like richer soil, like Hollyhocks. So the penstemons seem to like it here, as long as they are types that can take the freeze thaw cycles we have. That is usually what does in the zeric type plants here.
Those are sweet penstamons.
I have Husker Red and hope it returnes in spring
Clint and Don..do you have slideshows of your flower gardens for us? Would love to see them. Don, thanks again for the seeds..they were really appreciated and next year, I will be sure to pass the generosity on to another newbie.