I have to admit that I wasn't very impressed with Penstemon casespitosus when I encountered them at Agua Fria nursery in Santa Fe. In the nursery, they didn't have that many flowers and they were rather small. Still, I liked the color, so I bought one. That next spring I was so impressed that I bought 3 more, in some scraggly 2-1/4" last-years pots. This year I'm impressed with those 3.
Although the flowers are still small, they are quite abundant...
...so that they have a nice show of color. Pretty nice for not being on the drip line, being rarely irrigated, and being in sandy fill that pretends to be soil.
The plant forms a nice mat of leaves, not scraggly at all, so that the plant is very nice even when not in bloom.
They bloom a little earlier than P. linarioides.
Sometimes they are more blue or violet, sometimes more pink.
The first one, however, hasn't even started to bloom, although on close inspection, there are buds forming. I suspect that it is from seed from a different location that has a different bloom time.
The first one, however, hasn't even started to bloom, although on close inspection, there are buds forming. I suspect that it is from seed from a different location that has a different bloom time.
Those are very nice mats, not to mention that flower color. I think you're where I first saw that one used.
ReplyDelete