Penstemon Species, Beard Tongue, Wild Snapdragon, Scented, Palmer's Penstemon, Pride of the Mountain

This beautiful plant came up in my courtyard garden between two flagstones and under a table! It's a hot and dry spot with no irrigation...Read More and has only about an inch of space! It's about 18" tall and amazingly beautiful but I'm hoping to collect some seeds and sow them this fall in a more convenient spot. Still trying to figure out where it came from.

We grew Palmer's Penstemon in the 90s at a house we no longer live at. The first year it got to the size claimed by most nurseries, etc,...Read More but the 2nd year it far exceeded that. The flower stalks were touching the edge of the roof, which was about 8 feet tall, even with the arching stalks. The leaves grew to a pretty, silvery arching clump that was about 2 ft high and wide or maybe more. I've seen one specialty catalog nursery that says they will get to 6 ft. I have no idea what was so special about that site that the plant thrived so well. It was just the native unimproved clay and it was on a south facing wall so it got scorching heat in summer. Maybe that is what they like. We got it at the same time as some red flowered smaller penstemons that also did really well, also with no particular pampering.

Has a wonderful fragrance of grape juice. Mine got around 3-4 feet tall this year, and it was my first time growing it. The branches of...Read More mine did droop a bit, so next year I will need to support them. The seed pods take a while to ripen. Just a neat plant. Now that I know what it is that I was growing, I think it is even neater.

Have two 2-year old plants. First blooms on May 16th. My plants are under 2 feet tall including the bloomstalk. I hope they grow to the s...Read Moretated 4-6 feet because they were purchased with the idea of being tall. The flowers are sweetly scented - I just wish I didn't have to stoop to get a sniff. :-)
The plants stayed green over the winter.