{"title":"Penstemon","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe have set a goal to find and select penstemon cultivars that will tolerate summer heat and humidity. With all of the wonderful penstemon species grown in the dry, western US, we have been continually disappointed but have never given up hope. Luckily, we have found a few penstemons, including some great Southeast US natives, that have been successful. Keep your eyes peeled for more penstemon selections in the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePenstemon provide a spectacular spring show with many of the newer penstemon hybrids reblooming throughout the growing season. The tall spikes of flowers make penstemon attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. Imagine penstemon in combination with rudbeckia, daylily, coreopsis or phlomis. Nice! Look carefully in the center of each penstemon flower and you will see the reason it's called beard-tongue. When you're ready to buy penstemon for your perennial garden, check out our online list of penstemon for sale.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"penstemon-smallii","title":"Penstemon smallii","description":"\u003cp\u003ePenstemon smallii has long been a favorite Southeast US (NC to Alabama) native beard tongue. The bushy, 6\" tall winter rosettes of green foliage with reddish overtones, give rise to 12\" tall stalks, laden with small lavender bells in May and June (NC). Penstemon smallii is short-lived (2-3 years), but seeds around nicely...always in the perfect spot. In the wild, it grows on rocky mountainous slopes and outcrops, and needs a similar condition in the garden for it to thrive...think very good drainage...even to the point of mixing in small gravel in poorly drained soils. It's also a great food source for native bees.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":21001068165,"sku":"1414","price":16.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-smallii.i-1414.s-68193.r-1_1bdfddc4-1480-48e5-9949-e7433457854d.jpg?v=1791485431"},{"product_id":"penstemon-dark-towers-pp-20013","title":"Penstemon Dark Towers PP 20013","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Nebraska's Dale Lindgren, who brought us many excellent penstemons including Penstemon 'Husker Red', we are glad to share the newest and best of his work, Penstemon 'Dark Towers'. This hybrid of Penstemon 'Husker Red' and Penstemon 'Prairie Splendor' resulted in a plant that resembles Penstemon 'Husker Red' except for being much more sturdy and having dark \u003ca title=\"See more plants with purple foliage\" href=\"https:\/\/www.plantdelights.sbs\/collections\/purple-leaf-plants\"\u003epurple foliage\u003c\/a\u003e so thick it appears tetraploid. From May through June, the 2' tall flower stalks of Penstemon 'Dark Towers' are topped with small lavender flowers...a very impressive hummingbird attractor.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":21028858629,"sku":"8907","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-Dark-Towers-PP-20013.i-8907.s-63437.r-1_2300eb0f-3a89-4f87-83c7-883cc8a54214.jpg?v=1774554916"},{"product_id":"penstemon-blackbeard-pp-30052","title":"Penstemon Blackbeard PP 30052","description":"\u003cp\u003ePenstemon 'Blackbeard' is another in the line of dark-foliaged Penstemon digitalis hybrids...a 2016 release from the Walters Gardens breeders. This cross of the North American native Penstemon digitalis and Penstemon calycosus has the darkest foliage on any such hybrid we've trialed. In spring, the new burgundy red foliage emerges from the 30\" tall, very sturdy, upright, burgundy stems. As the leaves mature, their color changes to dark black-purple. Starting in early May (NC), the stalks are topped with clusters of mauvy lavender tubes with a white interior, followed by clusters of small burgundy seed pods. Penstemon 'Blackbeard' is quite easy to grow in average to dry garden conditions.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWatch our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uZyQAKPl3Kk?si=M0nun5pcf6pmablD\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePlant Spotlight\u003c\/a\u003e video for more information. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":22575913797,"sku":"12732","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-Blackbeard-PP-30052.i-12732.s-64909.r-1.jpg?v=1791896220"},{"product_id":"penstemon-grandiflorus","title":"Penstemon grandiflorus","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe love Penstemon grandiflorus! Of course, what's not to like about any plant with the specific epithet of grandiflorus (grand flowers). Penstemon grandiflorus is a North American native that ranges from Minnesota, all the way south to the Texas hill country. In late April (NC), the small, glaucous rosette gives rise to 2' tall spikes of large bell-shaped flowers...truly stunning. In wet, humid climates like ours, Penstemon grandiflorus should be reserved for a well drained rock or crevice style garden with gravely soil. Penstemon grandiflorus is a great nectar source for both hummingbirds and native bumblebees, and if that's not enough, historically the roots were chewed for toothache relief. Flower color ranges from pink to white, but our plants are seed grown from a white-flowered form.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31433573072983,"sku":"11647","price":16.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-grandiflorus.i-11647.s-68663.r-1_8100a6af-a62e-4a23-b89a-452d5c59076c.jpg?v=1785514194"},{"product_id":"penstemon-ovatus","title":"Penstemon ovatus","description":"\u003cp\u003ePenstemon ovatus is one of those stunning blue-flowered perennials, native to the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia), that has no business growing in the hot, humid southeast US...yet, it has thrived in our trials. Because Penstemon ovatus is native in moist, partly shady, low to mid elevations, it grows in well drained, compost-enhanced soils, and doesn't have a problem with occasional irrigation. For us, it has also thrived in compost-enhanced gravelly soils, where the 2' tall stalks are adorned, starting in early May (NC), with stunning cobalt blue flowers, which like lungwort flowers, age to pink. The flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds, native bees, beetles, ants, moths, and flies. We truly love this and think you will also.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40069894733911,"sku":"11361","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-ovatus.i-11361.s-66994.r-1.jpg?v=1791987967"},{"product_id":"penstemon-triflorus-uvalde","title":"Penstemon triflorus Uvalde","description":"\u003cp\u003ePenstemon 'Uvalde' is a 2025 Plant Delights\/JLBG introduction from the late Pat McNeal, of his collection of the Texas native Penstemon triflorus, from Uvalde County. For us, this little-known, Edwards Plateau endemic to alkaline soils, has been an outstanding, long-lived performer in our well-drained, high pH crevice garden since 2017. The evergreen rosettes gives rise to a mass of 18\" tall stalks, adorned, starting for us in early April, with brilliant, bright, rosy pink flowers. With a Global Rarity status of G3, it is important to grow and share this beard tongue to conserve its genetics.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41906969673815,"sku":"7633","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-triflorus-Uvalde.i-7633.s-68195.r-1.jpg?v=1787673098"},{"product_id":"penstemon-tenuis","title":"Penstemon tenuis","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe have been thrilled with the performance of the Southeast US (Arkansas through Texas) native, Gulf Coast beard tongue. For us, the robust Penstemon tenuis forms a tight mass of rosettes that give rise in early spring to dozens of 30\" tall upright stems, each laden, starting for us in early May, with light purple, bell-shaped flowers. Although a moist streamside\/marsh native in the wild, Penstemon tenuis is adaptable to an array of garden soils, all but the driest of sites. We find the best flowering on plants grown in full sun. Penstemon tenuis is also a food source for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWatch our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/QKREh9CvQ4M\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePlant Spotlight\u003c\/a\u003e video for more information. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41906985500759,"sku":"15423","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-tenuis.i-15423.s-68579.r-1_8b6b21e0-67e6-4ae0-be1a-edb5d4faef49.jpg?v=1792149815"},{"product_id":"penstemon-havardii","title":"Penstemon havardii","description":"\u003cp\u003eBig Bend Beard Tongue is a Texas-sized, rock garden perennial, whose flowering stalks in late spring can reach a staggering 6' tall. Native only to Texas prairies and savannahs, the compact evergreen rosettes are easy to miss, but the same can't be said for the flowering spikes of scarlet orange, which tower over the native grasses. The flowers are favorites of both bees and hummingbirds. Penstemon havardii is tolerant of both clay and sandy soils, as long as the drainage is good.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41907025936471,"sku":"18347","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-havardii.i-18347.s-68192.r-1.jpg?v=1791289766"},{"product_id":"penstemon-multicaulis","title":"Penstemon multicaulis","description":"\u003cp\u003ePenstemon multicaulis is an outstanding, albeit virtually unknown, garden perennial that hails from the midwest region between Indiana and Oklahoma, where it grows on rocky soils, crevices and shale barrens. Some taxonomists lump it with the very similar Penstemon arkansanus, except it is a woodland plant with fewer flowering stems. Our plant has thrived in our un-irrigated full-sun crevice garden since 2017. Starting for us in late April, the 18\" tall stalks are laden with small white, bell-shaped flowers. We think this amazing North American native certainly needs to be much more widely grown. Our offering is from the type location in the Arkansas's Boston Mountains, shared by plantsman Aaron Floden.\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Plant Delights Nursery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42450440224855,"sku":"12474","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/files\/Penstemon-multicaulis.i-12474.s-68338.r-1.jpg?v=1791289879"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1527\/8799\/collections\/Penstemon-ovatus-1900x350_be5bc98c-7c14-4077-b1bd-d0fe1f60145e.jpg?v=1687294675","url":"https:\/\/www.plantdelights.sbs\/collections\/penstemon.oembed","provider":"Plant Delights Nursery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}