Browse Plants

This plant is a bushy, vigorous perennial with smooth, narrow, dark green leaves and small, tubular, deep wine-red flowers borne in erect spikes, from early summer to late autumn.

Deep blue, delicate spires to 16 inches tall appear late spring and early summer above thick, sturdy leaves.

This erect perennial has basal rosettes and stems bearing lance-shaped mid-green leaves. The plant bears long panicles of scarlet or yellow flowers from early summer to early autumn.

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This New Mexico/Texas native offers the garden spikes of dangling, rich red flowers in midsummer that attract hummingbirds. Grow in a border, rock garden, or cottage garden. It appreciates a moist but well-drained soil, but can also take more xeric habitats.

This upright perennial sports hanging, tubular bright-pink flowers to 1 inch across above serrated blue-green leaves. It blooms summer to fall.

Penstemon cobaea has shiny dark green leaves and purple, pink, or white flowers on spike-like panicles in mid-spring. It grows to 2.5 feet tall. The flowers are larger than most other penstemons. Dew flower is native to the Lower Plains and the southwestern U.S.

This vigorous perennial bears elegant clusters of pure white flowers marked with purple or pale violet from early to late summer. Semi-evergreen basal rosettes and deciduous or semi-evergreen stems are also often marked reddish purple.

'Husker Red' is one of the few penstemons that does well in wet winters and hot, humid summers. Ruby-toned leaves appear in spring, followed in late spring and early summer by 3-foot-high stems adorned by panicles of white blooms.  The flowers attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, but the plants are not magnets for deer or rabbits. In autumn and winter, songbirds feast on the seed. For a stunning display, plant 'Husker Red' in groups. -Chris Kelley, Regional Picks: Midwest, Fine Gardening issue #120

Tubular lavender-pink flowers with paler pink lobes are borne in late spring to early summer. The foliage is evergreen.

This penstemon produces azure flowers—the color of a New Mexico summer sky. Blooms emerge in late April and may get covered with a late snow, but that doesn’t seem to bother them. Also boasting beautiful gray-blue foliage, this plant grows 6 to 10 inches high.

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A native of the Southwest, Palmer's penstemon sports sharp, prickly, gray leaves and thrives in the harsh conditions. Snapdragon-like pale pink flowers boom in late spring or early summer, and their sweet-honey scent attracts bumblebees. Toothed, sage green leaves skirt the upright stems for the rest of the gardening season.This perennial wildflower is one of the largest penstemons. It looks good in the back of a border or as a focal point, perhaps near a path where its fragrance can be enjoyed or in an informal grouping with other native penstemons and grasses, or with other plantss that have similar maintenance and water requirements. -Katie Nicolich, Plants to know and grow, Fine Gardening issue #120

This upright perennial has funnel-shaped, bright pink flowers on 3-foot-tall stalks in spring.

This penstemon cultivar has huge red flowers with white throats on upright spikes. The plants bloom all summer, even more so when given a weekly dose of liquid fertilizer. Hardy in Zones 9 and above, Phoenix™ Red is usually grown as an annual.

Rocky Mountain penstemon is an upright perennial that forms a mat of glossy green leaves from which arise straight, 2-foot-tall stems bearing rich purple blooms. It flowers in early June and occasionally throughout the summer. Blooms contrast nicely with yellow-blooming plants.

This is an upright penstemon with striking deep burgundy, purple, sometimes lavender or cream flowers on thin stems. The stem leaves are lance shaped and the basal leaves are spoon shaped.

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Red star-shaped flowers with small white centers bloom atop erect stems from spring to autumn. This evergreen perennial or subshrub is often grown as a summer annual. It generally stays under 2 feet tall in the garden, but the species can reach over 6 feet tall in the wild. Grow in a bed or border, or in containers.

The light, lavender-blue flowers, which attract butterflies to the garden, bloom in July, and often last throughout September. Russian sage is a particularly striking plant when grown along with white, yellow, or orange flowered perennials. Tones down bright yellow in the garden as well. Its silver-gray, deeply cut foliage and stiff stems are striking in the winter. -Santa Rosa Gardens

This vigorous, but noninvasive perennial flowers from early summer into autumn with bright red, purple, or white blossoms. The narrow blossoms are up to 4 inches long, and are held on long stalks above pointed, slightly puckered leaves. It grows to 4 feet high and wide.

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This vigorous but noninvasive perennial flowers from early summer into autumn with crimson blossoms to 6 inches long. Its leaves are dark green, arrow-shaped, and slightly puckered. It grows to 4 feet high and wide.