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Overall rating: 4.0 / 5 from 4 reviews.
Review topics: ["flowers","penstemon","plant","bumblebees","purple"].
"This plant had one flush of 5 branches with only a few blooms. Then nothing. I have many penstemons and this is the only one that does not rebloom. Do not buy, so disappointed."
"I put it with other penstemons. They like drier, kind of rocky soil. Well drained soils. They will die if you water them in spring and if you get water on its leaves. But, that's here in New Mexico. They will live for about 3 or 4 years for me. Then, I replace them. They hate to be shipped. Seems to be a 50% rate of survival in the box. Still worth it."
"Huge purple flowers, almost circus-like given how large they are compared to every other Penstemon. I have them somewhere they get some extra water, so I can't say how drought tolerant they are. Fun watching huge queen bumblebees disappear inside the huge flowers."
"It's the first year these plants were available, so I haven't even got to see the full show yet, but I'm enamored with this penstemon! The statement ""bumblebees actually fit inside these flowers when pollinating them"" is a huge understatement. you could easily fit two queens or five workers into one of these, the flowers are huge! I've seen penstemon grandiflorus sometimes have really large flowers that might be comparable to these, but these are definitely the largest I've seen on a penstemon, probably twice the size of a palmeri flower which is also considered to be very large among penstemons. You can tell these are seed propagated because the plants have corollas in different shades of purple, some are very pale purple on the outside, some are very deep purple, some in between(I like a little variation in my plants, especially when planted in groups). The nectar guides(lines on the inside of the Corolla leading to the nectar near the ovary) are also odd, normally most penstemons I've seen have the nectar guides just on the bottom lip of the Corolla where these go all the way around it. They also do something a little weird- as the racemes form, the new leaves are very wet for a day or two, and I often see gnats on those leaves(I assuming drinking the liquid?) they don't harm the plant though and are unnoticeable without close examination, plus hummingbirds like to eat gnats. I'm not sure if this is to keep the new leaves cool and protect from UV radiation, or this is just how the leaves eventually get the very waxy texture that make it great for firescaping. I found it very interesting as a plant nerd, but unless you're looking for this, you'd probably never know. Given where the seed selection is from, and the size of the flowers I'm a little skeptical of the 'very Waterwise' ranking, but the species does grow in the southern Great Plains to west Nebraska where drought is common. Keep offering and I'll buy more next year!"
