Hi cAROL,

Do you know whether the penstemon seeds are the type that need a few weeks of cold weather before they sprout? If so, it probably wouldn't be worth it to plant them now because they would not sprout until next spring anyway.

Once they sprout, they are tough little plants and you can plant them when they are tiny or let them grow bigger in the jug, your choice. They might grow a little faster if you plant them out sooner, though.

Hi Lois,
I can give you th names, if that will help.
1. True Blue*foothills penstoman*heterophyllis
2.Eastern*penstemon hirsutus
3.Small pensteum
I really want these to do well, so if I need to wait til fall, then I will,they are so darn pretty,don't you think.
cAROL

cAROL, penstemon is on the list of perennials that need cold stratification in order to germinate. I copied down the list from the Internet so I wouldn't make the mistake of spring or summer sowing any of those seeds. There are quite a few that don't need the cold strat but the list of ones that do is definitely longer.
Eileen

The penstemon hirsutus and the Smalls penstemon both need to go through some cold before they can sprout.

According to the Thompson and Morgan catalog, True Blue does not need a cold period to sprout, but they also list it as hardy only to zone 7. They say you can sow it anytime between Feb and early June, but in your zone and mine, they might end up acting like an annual, in which case you would be better off to sow them in Feb to give them a chance to bloom before cold weather.

If you really want to sow some now, why not sow half of the true blue seeds now and the other half next spring just to see what happens?

All the best,

Lois in PA

Thank you one and all, I think I will wait,darn it!
I dn't think there are enough seed to do some now,and again later.
I can wait for something this nice.
cAROL