Cultivation

 

This cultivation tab has SIX sections, each of which is briefly described below. If you have questions about cultivation please contact us by clicking here

About Growing Penstemons

Material in this section is primarily for gardeners who are just beginning to grow penstemons.  It features an article from the reliable and widely used book, Growing Penstemons: Species, Cultivars and Hybrids and includes recommendations for easy-to-grow penstemons,arranged by region of the United States, Canada and Europe.

Selecting Species

This section is under construction and when ready will give the user a way to search dynamically for species.

Cultivation Information

The opening page of this section is an Index to 31 Tables containing detailed information about growing each penstemon species. This Index is organized by botanical classifications: subgenus, section and subsection. In addition, a Search Box provides the user with the correct classification of any species.
The information contained in the tables was drawn from all the primary resources currently in print. The tables include the following information:

• name of species
• height and color
• popularity and ease of cultivation
• bloom season
• cultivation suggestions including the ideas for display and where the species has been grown successfully outside of its native habitat
• soil, moisture and sun exposure needs
• native habitat and altitude and location
• hardiness

References

Articles

This section contains over 100 articles about the cultivation of penstemons. These articles complement the information contained in the Tables as described above. The articles are sorted into one of the following topics:

• Botanical Keys
• Cultivation of Penstemons within some of the Larger Classifications
• Cultivation of Several Individual Species
• Cultivation of Penstemons with Various Characteristics such as: Color, Hardiness, Low Maintenance and Size
• Culture Basics
• Diseases, Insects, and Pests
• Garden Display
• Hummingbirds and Insects
• Locations: Areas of the U.S. and Canada
• Locations: Individual States
• Planting and Trnasplanting

Books about penstemons

Books are briefly reviewed. A few are out of print, but can be found online in used bookstores..

Links

This section includes links to interesting websites

Plant and Seed Sources

This section lists nurseries that sell a substantial number of penstemon plants or seeds. We encourage nurserymen to contact us to be included. We apologize to those whom we have unintentionally omitted.

 

Visit the Blog

The primary goals of the blog are:

• To provide an arena for questions and answers as well as interesting experience pertaining to the cultivation of penstemons. Members of an Expert Panel will respond to questions. This can be done at any time by Posting your question or comment
• To provide an arena in which members can exchange information about cultivation with one another
• To tap into the "collective wisdom" of penstemon growers everywhere, to be called Digging Deeper . A new penstemon will be Posted each month. Users will be asked to share their experiences by writing Comments about the featured penstemon. That input will be archived and eventually incorporated into the website itself. This idea has wonderful potential if people will take a little time to contribute

 

 

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Bob McFarlane who had the vision of an updated website and to Louise Parsons, who designed the Society's first website.

Of central importance to the breadth and depth of this Cultivation Section are these authorities on penstemons who generously shared much of their material. They are Ellen Wilde, Dee Strickler, Bob Nold, and Dale Lindgren.

We would also like to acknowledge the authors of additional valuable print sources used for reference. These include Jean Heflin, David Way and Peter James, and Noel Holmgren.

Appreciation is also extended to the numerous authors whose work appears in the Articles Section. Most of these articles first appeared in the The Bulletin of the American Penstemon Society, a rich resource of information dating from the 1960s onward. .

Many photographers whose work appeared on the Internet kindly gave permission to use their pictures.

A special Thank You goes to the Cultivation Expert Panel. These individuals have patiently and graciously provided essential editing for much of the material in this section. Their contributions will continue as they provide assistance to those using the Blog.

Donald Humphrey

Louise Parsons

Mike Slater

Jim Swayne

Ellen Wilde

Ginny Maffitt

Editor