Well, here it is, in full color! I planted it last year and only bought one because I wasn't confident it would survive our moist conditions. It's a southwestern native Penstemon, so I put tons of sand and Espoma Soil Perfector and that seems to have done the trick. I saw them on sale at High Country Gardens, couldn't resist, and now I have two more. With a little luck, maybe they'll bloom as a trio next spring.




I haven't seen any hummingbird use, nor have I tested the flowers for nectar. I'm glad to have a hummer flower in bloom at this time, but my hummingbirds are such feeder junkies in the spring that I've barely seen any flower use at all. They aren't even using the columbine, which in past years has gotten quite a bit of use.

Looks great, Kristin--thanks for the pictures! I can hardly wait for mine to bloom--I'll be thrilled if it looks as nice as yours does now! I don't see how the hummers could resist that!

Donald

Zone 4 Red Wing MN

Thanks for sharing that. There is something irresistably attractive about hummingbird Penstemons.

Thank you Kristin. It's beautiful and I'm green with envy. Hope the hummers will find it!!




Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

That's really nice! I would have never imagined that it would have done so well in PA.

Thank you, everyone, for your remarks.

JP, too soon to say if it will really thrive here, but it has gotten through a winter, and a wet spring, and is blooming, so, needless to say, I'm very pleased. I'm not sure how long lived a perennial this penstemon is. I think of penstemons as being short lived, but perhaps the various species are different in this regard. I may be remembering something I read about another species. We'll see, I guess. We've been having a tremendous amount of rain, so it's a good sign that it is doing so well in spite of the moisture.

As for hummingbird use, it's out near the road in the front, and not visible from any of our front windows (holly tree in the way). If I want to look for use, I'm either going to have to sit outside for a few hours and stare at it (the neighbors must think I belong in an institution!) Or, I could stick the video camera on a tripod and let it roll as long as the battery lasts, then I'd have to skim through tons of footage for maybe only a few brief visits. That might be worth a try. Like Donald says, it's hard to see how they could resist those wands of red.

Just thought I'd add that I pulled a flower off this evening and tore it open the full length. The flower has a swollen base, and there was quite a lot of nectar in there--more than I've seen in some other good hummer flowers. I tasted it and it was very noticeably sweet. So, not only does it look like a hummer flower, it's got the nectar quantity (and I assume quality) to give them quite a reward.

I really should stake that plant out, but I've got so much stuff to do, don't think I can afford the time. It would be best to do it early in the morning and just sit there, staring non stop at the Penstemon with camera in hand. Who knows, maybe the Google truck will come by again and capture me looking at it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see the "...maybe a teeny bit creepy" thread.

Nice pics! Now I see what the actual plant looks like (not just the bloom), thanks.

Maryjane
W Ga
Zone 8a

You're welcome, Maryjane. I've always felt a little frustrated when gardening catalogues just show pictures of the flowers themselves, and don't show the growth habit of the entire plant. The overall size and shape of the plant is so important when planning a garden and how the plant will fit in to your design scheme.

When I decided to do the overall shot, I couldn't find a single angle to take that plant that didn't have something bad or distracting in the background, so I finally just settled on that angle, with the ugly overgrown lawn behind it. Still, it does show the shape of the plant pretty well, and that was the point. I'm glad it was helpful to you.

That bloom looks exactly like the ones on my 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle...how peculiar.

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Since both are very hummingbird adapted, I guess the biologists would say it's a case of convergent evolution--two unrelated species evolving to look and/or perform similarly. Do your honeysuckles also have swollen bases to the flowers? My 'Alabama Crimson' doesn't, so that may be a minor difference. These penstemons have a noticeably swollen base, and this allows a lot of room for a big nectar volume. Otherwise, these penstemons do look quite similar to my honeysuckle in overall shape and size. Another slight difference is that my 'Alabama Crimson' are yellow inside, whereas the penstemons are red through and through. I just looked at some on line photos, and it looks like 'Major Wheeler' may be red inside like the penstemon.

In any case, both are designed perfectly to be pollinated by hummingbirds, so I guess it's understandable that they'd look alike. The design of flowers is amazing and wonderful, and one of the reasons I enjoy making hummingbird feeders that mimic real flowers. Observing nature closely is one of the simple joys of life that is so easily overlooked.

Looks similar to a firecracker fern. Experimenting can be interesting. Do your hummers like it or is it too soon to say? Very pretty. Suzanne

Here's a video answer to your question, Suzanne. Yes, they do! They also are using Donald's in Minnesota (see his thread).

This is not the greatest video. I just set up the camera and left it running--should've scraped the weeds out of the crack in the driveway--embarassing! Also, I wish I'd been at the helm to zoom in and focus. It could have been a so much better video, but I didn't have the time to sit there staring at the Penstemon for over an hour to get the opportunity. Then, on top of all that, it was getting dark and when I came out to turn off the camera I scared her away and cut her visit short. Doh!

Still, I'm pleased to have a video record and I like the fact that this plant blooms in mid May here in zone 6.