Penstemon varieties for every garden
Beard tongue is the common name for husker red penstemon, or penstemon digitalis husker red. Admittedly, some gardeners consider it a thug due to its eagerness to reproduce, but penstemon has its place in the cottage and butterfly garden. The leaf color is a gorgeous green and purple-maroon. The late-May flowers are white, with a soft lavender-pink color at the bud-base. Hummingbirds and tiny pollinators visit the flowers. Plus, the plants are durable enough to be successful in your most challenging dry soil in part-sun, at the base of shrubs, or along the sidewalk. However, with too much shade and they can become weak and fall over. Like many penstemons, they are cold hardy in zones 3 to 8, making them shrug off our ice and snow. Plus, husker red is one of the few penstemons that can thrive despite a wet winter, or drought, humidity and heat. Penstemons are mostly native to dry climates so the one condition that they cannot tolerate is wet clay or locations where the plan...