Penstemon linarioides

Penstemon linarioides has to have its own entry because I love the blue. Earlier this year, there was the Veronica tauricula in a similar color. P.linarioides comes from the four corners region, and is a very variable species. Here are three versions. I had the joy of photographing some wild blooms last year when hiking out by Grants (see my May 2007 post on Wild P.lin). How exciting is that?

Here is a ground level photo. This plant was from Plants of the Southwest.


This version is from Agua Fria nursery in Santa Fe. The color is variable from year to year. Maybe the cooler weather had something to do with the dark color this year. The first year I planted it, it bloomed only a few flowers this dark purple. Last year, it was indistinguishable from the other P. lins that I have. The large amount of summer rainfall we had caused the original plants to rot out. This is a seedling from those. Keep in mind that the flowers are about half an inch across.


This plant came from High Country Gardens. I've bought a number of plants from HCG, in two different years. The first year's plants have a more solid flower, the plants I bought a few years later have this flower with prominent stripes. In either case, the plants from HCG have blue/silver leaves and a lavender flower. This year, the flowers are smaller and have more purple in them. They are also not as abundant.
HCG P. linarioides, version 1:

HCG P. linarioides, version 2: