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Northwestern Gardening

Should my Penstemon be growing by now?

16 years ago

I have a Cathedral Hot Rose Beardtongue that dies back in the winter. I was thinking it should be sprouting by now, but I was able to pull out all the dead stalks by hand... just seemed that there should be a base there somewhere? When do they usually start back? It is pretty much the last thing to come back in my garden...

Wondering if I should replace it??

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Comments (4)

Embothrium
16 years ago
Sounds like you lost it.
larry_gene
16 years ago
Our penstemons in Portland have made an obvious return to life.

There could be such a thing as removing too much of last year's dead stalks, and disrupting the new growth buds at the base. If you left an inch or two showing, it should have come back.
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Embothrium
16 years ago
Probably just a tender variety, maybe a bedding type.
xantippe
16 years ago
Ellen, I lost a penstemon, too, this year. The other one is green and leafy--it probably has about 18 inches of beautiful growth now. You can leave your "dead" penstemon and see what happens, but I think the odds are pretty slim that it's alive.

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