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Re: u Penstemons for troughs

From: Louise Parsons <parsont@peak.org>

Hi, Diana,  As your message arrived I was cleaning penstemon and other seed
like crazy for the APS and NARGS seed exchanges.  I have been fortunate to
be able to take some little hikes combining my love of geology, birds and
of course wildflowers.  

If you can provide a fairly deep trough, there are many pents that take
well to trough and container culture.  They are not in the same league
scalewise of trough material as many of the truly tiny plants such as
saxifrages, androsaces, drabas, etc.  Because my soil is a little heavy I
even grow some of the larger species such as P. barbatus and its many
hybrids in half-barrels.  Some of the more tender Mexican and English
hybrids I also grow this way, but even here in zone 7 it may be necessary
to use some Christmas lights and plastic cover around these. I also grow
Oriental lilies and this keeps them from freezing too hard.  

Here are some of the species that I have in troughs: 

P. hirsutus 'Pygmaeus' is HIGHLY variable but very easy from seed.  You can
in fact seed it directly into a trough and pull out the larger forms. 

P. rupicola is growing very happily in a very large trough that I can't
move.  It took over the trough and I let it --such is love <grin> It is
sheltered from winter rain on our covered patio.  It was planted at the
edge of the trough and besides filling the trough it has long since spilled
over the edge...a very nice effect, but it is kind of "pushy" for a trough
with companions.  Cold hardiness?  Hmmm..I'm not at all sure.  It is native
and widespread (but has definite "niche" habits!) to both the Western
Cascades and the High Cascades.  In the wild it invariably spends the
winter under heavy snow cover or natural shelter, so it might not be
completely hardy.  

I have P davidsonii var menziesii that is labelled "microphyllus", but only
the LEAVES are extra-diminutive.  The flowers are the same generous size as
the species.  I have no clue why, but for me the P. d. var davidsonii is
much more compact and slower-growing.  However I have seen huge mats of
both varieties growing in the wild, but they are very old.  All P.
davidsonii have beautiful small leaves and relatively compact growth.  When
grown in a lean soil with plenty of pumice or grit, good light, and good
air circulation, they will all smother themselves with flowers.  These also
modestly rebloom in the fall here.  I was just in the High Cascades a few
days ago the wild kids were also reblooming a bit.  :-)

Something of unknown identity called "Dwarf Rhondo Hybrids" is available
here in the nursery trade.  They are colorful (pinks, whites, lavenders,
orchid, magentas etc.) and grow about a foot tall, but are not very hardy.
They can be grown from seed as annuals, but not all the progeny will be
dwarf!  Some will shoot up tall colorful wands like their P. barbatus and
other ancestors.  

I grow many forms of P. procerus in troughs and planters.  Eventually they
may "take over" too, and the flower stems are sometimes a bit tall, but the
flowers are gorgeous in rich shades of blue and purple.  

Penstemon pinifolius is another  trough or planter candidate with dark fine
needle-like leaves and bright scarlet or orange tubular flowers.  There is
a nice yellow-flowered form which I grew from APS seed donated by Jay Lunn.
 Both of these were in my rock garden until three years ago when I rescued
them from a flood.  They have been bushy, sassy, and happy in large pots on
our patio ever since.  

Most all pents would be out of scale in a "classic" miniature garden trough
with dwarf conifers, tiny buns and cushions, but they do have a place in
troughs and planters.  It is a lovely sight to see the Dasantheras such as
P. rupicola or P. davidsonii cascading over the edge and down the side of a
trough in a sheet of hot pink or purple bloom.  

Oi, how could I almost forget another half-barrel resident --a P. barbatus
that has the hottest neon "ten-mile" red flowers imaginable.  They also
have true barbatus "shark's head" form.  I don't know what the seeds will
do, but if they ripen I will be sure to donate them to the APS and NARGS
seedEx's.

Cheers,  Louise


p*@peak.org
With every passing hour our solar system comes forty-three thousand
miles closer to globular cluster M13 in the constellation Hercules,
and still there are some misfits who continue to insist that there
is no such thing as progress.  -- Ransom K. Ferm


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