‘Electric Blue’ Foothill Penstemon Is a Tough Native with a Unique Hue

As a true plant life flake , I ’ll include that I ’m a sucker forblue flowers . An telling , genuinely grim flower is a curiosity in nature . Perhaps that ’s why I ’ve been drawn to them over the years . When I lived in southeast Alaska , Himalayan gamey poppies ( Meconopsisspp . , Zones 5–8 ) were my sorry flowers of choice . Unfortunately , their climatic necessity dictate living in a temperate rain forest or in the high meadow of the Himalaya for successful cultivation . These shape are very difficult to replicate in most areas of North America . What ’s the solution for a in effect , dead on target - blue heyday that is tough as nail ? I recommend ‘ galvanizing Blue ’ foothill penstemon .

The genus name of this beauty is derived from two Grecian words : penta , intend “ five , ” andstamon , which means “ stamen . ” Each blossom , therefore , has five stamens ; four are fertile and one is unimaginative . Another usual name , beardtongue , refers to the unimaginative stamen ’s tuft of whisker . Penstemonis the largest unfolding genus native to North America , and its members occupy a wide scope of habitat , with most grow in westerly states .

Foothill penstemon is native to the blazingly hot Sierra Nevada foothills of California , where it grows among the undefendable oak forests and grassland areas . ‘ electrical Blue ’ was choose for its undifferentiated , true - blue flowers . It is a clump - forming perennial with evergreen plant foliage . The flower menses is late spring to summer , and if the plant is cut back after blossoming , it may grace your garden with another rush of flush in late summer .

This species prefer and will do best in full sun with fast - draining , infertile ( sandy or gravelly ) grunge . stave off growing it in wet , poorly drained soil , as that will encourage root bunk and greatly shorten its sprightliness . Also , avoid inordinate fecundation ; water - soluble , chemical fertiliser will press riotous development at the expense of plant longevity . Foothill penstemon is quite drought tolerant once established , but it will boom with infrequent , deep summer tearing . A fillip is that it is cervid and rabbit immune . Like all penstemons , it attract hummingbirds and all manner of bees and butterflies .

My planting of ‘ Electric Blue ’ is in a hillside rock garden with other drought- and heat energy - loving perennial . I shuffle pumice into my heavy Henry Clay grunge to improve the drainage and mulch with crushed rock of various sizes to help keep the plant crowns well drained for wet , Willamette Valley wintertime . I ’m quite pleased with the bright blue flowers they allow , to the detail where I almost forget hanker for my belovedMeconopsis — almost .

‘Electric Blue’ foothill penstemon

Penstemon heterophyllus‘Electric Blue’

Zones:6–10

condition : Full Sunday ; infertile , well - drained soil

Native reach : California

Merrill Jensen is an Oregon - base horticulturist and the former director of the Jensen - Olson Arboretumin Juneau , Alaska . In his calling he has serve at four public gardens in the westerly United States .

Illustration : Elara Tanguy

Sources

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Electric Blue foothill penstemon

Photo: courtesy of bluestoneperennials.com

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