Penstemon

Penstemon is a perennial that blooms during summer and fall with beautiful bell-shaped flowers. It grows to about 60cm and comes in shades of purple and red adding a lot of color to borders. Penstemon is hardy but needs deep pruning in spring after the cold of the winter since the old-growth does protect the plant in cold weather.

It is best to propagate Penstemon from cuttings in late summer or you can propagate from seeds sown in early spring.  Removing the old flowers does prolong flowering. Penstemon grows well in fertile well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade.